


Karma

by Despite (Rasenelta)



Category: Code Vein (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Gender Neutral Character, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, No Beta, Original Character(s), Spoilers, androgynous character, long chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-13 14:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 73,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21496141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rasenelta/pseuds/Despite
Summary: Your actions will always ripple the lakes' surface.The mystery is how much.Will it be small or will it spread across the whole lake?And how will you deal with what happens afterwards; whether it be good or bad?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

They were falling apart.

Their feet. Their legs.

Their torso.

‘Please, no! Not again!’

They tried to kick out legs that were not there, tried to move their arms that were turning to dust, their hand gripping nothing and became nothing. They tried to breathe when there was no air, when there was no lungs.

They tried to open their eyes but saw nothing as they faded away. 

* * *

Their throat was inexplicably sandy. Dry and rough, even breathing caused them to go into a coughing fit. Their eyes watered as they felt the air aggravate their throat. 

A kick from their legs signaled that they could hear as pebbles and rocks rolled. 

They tried to grab something but could only feel dirt and gravel. They hear something, coming towards them. 

They jerked, trying to move; but their body was too exhausted. They hear it come closer.

And closer.

And stop right next to them.

Several moments passed. When nothing happened, they tried to open their eyes. They saw nothing but blurs at first, but slowly their vision focused, and they see a woman staring down at them with blank eyes.

“Welcome back.” She said. They stared back at her, wondering if they knew her. But nothing came to mind. This woman, was a complete stranger to them.

“Hello.” She greeted. They tried to say something back, but only managed to cough. They tried to sit up, but only managed to fall back down.

‘Why? Am I?’ 

It was an odd feeling, they know they can sit up, but the dissonance of being unable to was dizzying.

They tried again and felt hands underneath their shoulders. This time they managed to sit up with the woman's help. And a feeling of wrongness engulfed them.

Spikes rose from crumbled buildings and a blanket of red as tall as the sky towered over them.

“Was it… always like this?” As soon as they asked that, the wrongness in them grew. No, their body said to them. It was not.

“It’s ok…” The woman spoke, monotone. “I… don’t remember either.”

“Then, why…?” Did you greet me? They wanted to say; had their body not been engulfed in fire.

“Gah!” Pain. Everywhere. But where it burned the most…

“My-?!” They gripped their chest, hoping to alleviate the pain, but it didn’t go away.

‘Am I? Ill?’

A cool hand touched their burning face. The woman looked them over before turning and pointing ahead.

“Over there.” And they saw a silver tree amidst the ruin. 

They struggled to stand up, staggering around to walk towards it. The woman however remained steadfast. She walked ahead of them, turning back to speak.

“Follow me.” Perhaps, they didn’t realize how grave of a situation they were until this moment, where they even struggled to even walk straight. 

She had walked a good bit ahead of them, but she stopped and turned back around. Their head was throbbing painfully, to the point where they wanted to split their own head open, but they continued to walk. The woman was saying something, but they couldn’t register what it was.

When they caught up, she turned forward and walked on, turning back to wait for them to catch up. They repeated this several times, until they reached the tree. 

By then, the burning was agonizing. But the pain wasn’t just from their body. The headache from before erupted. 

_‘With this medicine, the mistle could-’_

_‘Watch out, kid!’_

_‘This monster will never-!’_

They felt a small jab in their wrist, but that pain was nothing compared to this. Both body and mind screaming out, they collapsed to their knees.

‘What is this? Who am-?’

Out of the red haze a small hand was in front of them, holding something.

“For you.” A fruit, it looked like at first. However, as they bit into it, it shattered as liquid poured down their throat, finally cooling their body down. 

With that relief came exhaustion. Having just woken up with their body fighting them, they couldn’t keep their eyes open. 

Gentle hands caught them as they fell.

“Rest. Do not worry, I will be with you when you awaken.”

* * *

When they came to, they realized that they were not underneath the silver tree anymore. 

“Where!” They jumped up looking around to see if they could figure out where the hell they were at.

“Whoa.” Someone said. They quickly spun around to see a man on the floor looking up at them. “Keep it down, your friend just fell asleep.”

“...Friend?” They turned around to see the woman from before, sleeping.

“Let her rest,” the man stated, “She was watching over you all this time.”

“... I see.” They turned back to the man. “Thank you.”

“It’s fine.” He waved the thanks away.

“Though,” The man looked up at them with a serious tone, losing his jolly nature. “What happened to your masks?”

“Our… masks?” They reached up and felt the metal that hugged their face. They turned to the sleeping woman and saw that she also had a metal frame on her face. They turned back and looked closer at the man. The man was wearing a mask, but they didn’t know it was necessary

“Ah,” he made a sound of realization, “you’ve forgotten about those too, huh?” He let out a small hum before turning to point in the other direction.

“I’ll tell you whatever you need to know but go and put on a purifier mask first.” 

“...Yes, understood.” Was all they said before they made their way to the back. As they walked, they glanced around and saw other people sitting around, all looking miserable. They counted about five, excluding the man from earlier. They overheard someone:

“There’s no way we’re gonna find blood beads…” They looked over to see a woman on the floor resting near the corner of the room. “The mistle’s all dried up and the miasma keeps getting thicker. Telling us to look for blood beads here is just crazy.” 

“...” The defeat in her voice amplified the situation that they were in. If this task is truly that dangerous why the desperation?

As they reached the back, they noticed that there was a large variety of masks, much more than the amount of people in this building.

‘Why is that?’ Suspicious as that is, they didn’t have time to dwell on that and so picked up a mask that looked like it didn’t take up so much space on their face. As they were turning to go back-

The ladder dropped down.

“Number three, four, and newcomers! Hurry up and get ready, it’s time to work!” They looked up at the one yelling before glancing back at the man. As they walked back over to him, he let out a small laugh.

“Looks like the ones up their want you… Well,” he chortled, “they can wait. More importantly, that mask suits you. Without those, we revenants would join the Lost in a flash, so be careful.”

“...I see. Thank you.” They still managed to convey their thanks luckily. The man laughed again.

“Alright then, what do you want to know?” He looked back up at them.

“...Where are we?” That would be the one with most priority. He hummed again.

“According to the folks _up there_,” he pointed upwards with a dismissive tone, “it’s a place to keep people who gather blood beads. More concisely, it’s a slave pen.” They nodded.

“Ah, I understand.” So, they were kidnapped and forced to work. Easy enough.

“What are blood beads? Why do I need to go find them?” The reason they were kidnapped was because of these blood beads.

“If revenants don’t drink human blood, we join the Lost, but humans are scarce after the Great Collapse and all.” The man paused, his eyes dimmed slightly, but his gaze focused on them.

“Folks like _us_ don’t get blood,” he said, with a tone they weren’t quite sure what to call, “but instead we use blood beads.” Here he sighed. 

“I don’t know why such a thing came along, but they started appearing after the Queen frenzied and was taken down. Some believe that they’re her tears, but that doesn’t matter.” Blood beads as substitution for human blood… The mystery of these blood beads and its origin is unknown so-

“What is a revenant?” They asked as they sat down on the floor. Humans and revenants seem different. But they- they should be similar. So why? What happened?

“Ah. Revenants are humans that died but was kicked awake again. That’s what we are.” A short, simple explanation, unlike the last one.

“We are… undead?” They asked. He nodded.

“Yes. As long as your heart is intact, you’ll be fine. But you have to drink blood, human blood,” he specified, “or you would become one of the Lost.” Here he let out a sarcastic chuckle. 

“It’s ironic. That we were created to fight the Horrors of the Great Collapse now have to fight our fallen kin to live.” That term again. Lost, and some other things. A Horror and this Great Collapse. What had happened?

“Why have I forgotten?” This is important information. They **_should have remembered_**_. _Here he looked a bit sad.

“Each time we die, we lose a part of our memory, big or small. Usually, it’s nothing important and you would have never known that you had forgotten it but…” he looked straight into their eyes. “In your case, it is much more rare.”

So, they died and forgot everything… did they die to these Lost? It seems to be a common occurrence around here so that’s probably what had happened.

“What are Lost?” They do not want to deal with these regenerative beings like this. They don’t want to forget what meager memories they have now, and they can’t prevent that if they don’t know.

“Lost… Lost are revenants that succumb to bloodthirst and turn into monsters. Now our hearts,” he touched his chest, “when destroyed, we turn to ash. Lost on the other hand have no hearts or rather they don’t need it, so they can come back.” Incapable of dying even when their heart is destroyed. Truly monsters. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they really died like that...

“But… they take a while to come back, so they’re still like us.” 

“I… see…” That doesn’t make things better, truthfully, but at least they wouldn’t have to worry about being overrun by monsters when they manage to kill them. So that is the enemy but...

“This mask… why do I need it?” They felt fine without it when they woke up. The way this man acted when he saw them without one though...

“The air,” he waved his hand around, “here has something that speeds up our bloodthirst. We call it miasma, so this mask,” he tapped his own, “helps filter it out. Now, mistle purifies the air, but lately they’ve been drying up, just like the blood springs. So be careful where you take off your mask unless you wanna be lost.” An unending thirst, but if revenants get to thirsty, they would turn into monsters, so...

“What is mistle?” Mistle… a pain flashed through their head, but they ignored it.

“Mistle is a sort of plant that purifies miasma and renders the air safe. It was one of the successes of Project QUEEN. Even if it withers it can be bought back with medicine made from the Queen’s blood, but there’s no hope of that now. A mistle would help tremendously...” The Queen…that title was familiar… this Queen seemed very important… but now… that tone.

“Who is the Queen?” Is she dead? If so how? Why?

“...Not everyone wakes up right away.” He begins, sounding tired. “Some are still asleep. We lose our memories and need human blood to survive… Basically, Revenants are imperfect, both as weapons and as creatures.” They watched as the man looked out as something they didn’t see. 

“But we were needed to fight the horrors. The Queen was our hope for solving such problems, but…” He looked sad again... “well bringing back the dead is already stepping outside the realm of humanity. In the end she went into a frenzy… and there was a great war involving all revenants.” They digested the information.

“So, it was an experiment that failed.” Was how they understood it.

“Correct.” They found it funny that even after they had asked so many questions, they still have no idea about what was going on in this place. So, all that is left is…

“Hurry up! What the hell is taking you so long!” Someone shouted from above.

“Ngh…” With that shout, the woman from before started to stir. Opening her eyes, she immediately focused on them.

“You’re awake.” She stated to them. They nodded.

“Yes.” The man from before hummed. 

“Alright, looks like they’re getting impatient, before they come down here and drag you up, go get the girl a mask and don’t worry, you have the basics down.” Yes, their business with this man was finished so there was no need to speak to him anymore… but…

“Your name…” This man’s kindness...

“Hm?”

“May I ask of you, your name?” They don’t want to forget him. They know that names are important, so they wanted to know his name. The revenant in front of them, only the word ‘sophisticated’ came to mind but they wanted more than that.

“... Don’t worry about me kid, just go.”

“...” That answer was one that they expected. Even so… they reached out and grasped the man’s hand.

“Thank you.” 

“...” With the man having nothing else to say, they lightly tighten their grip before letting go and turned back to the woman.

“The masks are over there.” As they guided her to the masks, they overheard someone slurping. It was desperate and the sound sent a chill up their spine. Glancing over they saw a man in the corner, desperately trying to catch something in the bottle. He turned and saw them.

“What the hell-!” He gasped out. “Are you looking at?!”

They jumped at the hostile tone.

“I’m sorry…” but the man paid no heed to them and turned back to his corner.

“Which one?” The woman asked them, startling them.

“Hm?” They turned back over to her.

“Which mask do you want me to wear?” She asked again pointing at the variety of masks.

“Ah… whichever one you want is fine…” They didn’t really know what type of mask she needed, so it was best to let her figure it out.

“What I… want?” She turned back to the masks. As she was looking over, they turned to look at the “front” of the building. The red wall was there, perhaps as a means to deter escape. They saw a woman staring at the wall. They approached her hoping she could tell them more about it. She obviously heard them, as she glanced over, but she turned back to stare at the wall.

“The view never improves, does it?”

“View?” They asked, but she continued on, ignoring them.

“We came back home after the war against the Queen and found this mist. Getting close to it causes enough pain to drive you mad, so no one has ever crossed it. There’s nowhere to go home to, even outside of this prison.”

“...” She fell silent again and wouldn’t talk to them anymore.

They walked back and passed by a man leaning against the pillar. He was mumbling to himself: “-‘Wandering’ they say, the folks up there. They might live in safety… but because of their levy, we have to risk our necks to collect blood beads! Just you wait, one day I’m gonna make thralls out of the whole lot.”

“...” Who’s levy they wanted to ask, but the man’s hostility turned them away.

“I’m finished…” They jumped and turned over to the woman. The mask she was wearing fit her face well, but there was damage to it. 

“Ah... It suits you.” However, they weren’t one to nitpick. As long as she can breathe safely it should be fine.

As they were about to leave, they glanced over to the man on the other pillar. He had been silent and unmoving. His eyes were blank and empty as he stared into nothing. They approach him. As the man heard their footsteps, he looked up at them.

“Are you going to kill me too? Anything for a kick, right? Just don’t crush my heart.”

“I wasn’t planning on that,” they said. He scoffed and put his head down, waiting for something. They placed a hand on his head, like the woman did to them, to try to comfort him. “I just wanted to see if you were alright.” The man looked at them, a panicked expression slowly formed on his face.

“...Stop already… my body may be alive, but my soul died long ago!” Instead of comforting him, it seemed to make things worse. 

“No one could stay sane after dying again and again and again and again! Don’t take my memories… my family! I have nothing left!” The man broke down, sobbing.

“I wasn’t… I’m sorry…” was all they could manage to say as they retreated their hand. The woman gently pulled them away.

“We have to go now.”

They glanced back at everyone down in this pit, the people’s misery, palpable. They glanced over to the man that greeted them when they woke up. His body was slumped over matching the miserable picture perfectly. 

“I understand.” There was no point in staying here.

They climbed the ladder only to be grabbed by their arm and pulled forward when they reached the top.

“Took you long enough! Now hurry!” The men shoved them forward, forcing them to walk. The halls were dark, lit by dim torches, but slowly they could see the sunlight.

As they reached the surface, they heard someone yelling, grunting as he stomped on something. The men leading them shoved them towards another group of people.

“Wait here.” One man left and walked toward the man with the pompous attitude.

“Everything’s ready.” They heard.

“Hmph, I’ll be there.” The man that walked towards them held an arrogant demeanor that irritated them.

“Isn’t that bad for you all? This one is all dried up.” A revenant beside them fell to his knees.

“That’s right, so there’s no sense in looking for blood beads in miasma this thick! So please- agh!” In the midst of the man’s begging one of the armed soldiers beat the man down with the back of his bayonet. The leader merely sighed and walked up to the man. Pulling something out of his pocket.

“I want you to go and look for this-” he gestured to the red bead, “in the tunnels.”

The thing that he was holding was a bigger version of what they had devoured earlier. 

‘So, these are blood beads…’

“See, it’s only a matter of time before the collectors come and by then we won’t have any blood beads to give them. If we don’t find any, Silva’s dogs will strip the shirt right off our backs…”

Silva? That name… it was familiar and not. Something they should know but at the same time they couldn’t.

“But why do we have to find them?” Another man asked, pulling them out of their thoughts.

“Don’t blame me. If you have a problem go take it up with Silva, this is all his idea.”

While they don’t remember Silva. They can tell that the levy that was spoken of earlier was his idea, but at the same time, it felt… wrong to think like that. 

“You! Go first! Get to work!” The guards dragged the two on the floor up, forcing them to walk towards a hole. Seeing the revenant’s being forced to work against their will they felt something light up inside them.

‘They’re not facing towards me and the man doesn’t have a weapon. I could-’ They took a step forward- only to be stopped by the person right beside them.

“Don’t. There’s a better time and place. For now, we have to obey.” 

“...” He was right, right now while they could attack the leader, there was a high chance that they would be critically injured.

“Next!” They all walked forward. Or they all would have had the arrogant bastard not placed his hand on the woman.

“Whoa there.”

“?” She glanced over to him, confused.

“You wait here with us.” Leery bastard.

“You can have this one back once you find the blood beads.” He said looking straight at them.

“A fair exchange don’t you agree?” They stepped forward but the goon placed himself in front of them. Annoyed they stopped and let the man lead them away.

“Oh, and the Hunter has been showing up here lately.” The leader yelled from behind them. “So, make sure you don’t get killed.” 

They were forced in front of a pit. As they were wondering how to get down-

“You heard him! Move it!” They felt a kick to their back. 

* * *

Laying on the floor, they can’t help but feel a sense of extreme annoyance well up inside of them. Beside them the man let out a small groan.

“Yowch… hey are you okay?” He asked as he stood up.

“Un.” They let out a small grunt before standing up as well. The man reached forward and helped them up.

“Looks like we can’t climb back up from here.” He said looking up at the ruins of a building. The closest thing that they could reach was a ladder, but even then, that would require some time to climb up.

“We’ll have to look for another way back.” The man looked over to them.

“Oh! I’m Oliver Collins, by the way. Nice to meet you!” He held his hand out. They reached out and lightly grasped it and he shook it. They didn’t know what to do so they just let him do what he wanted. When he stopped, he looked over to them.

A moment of silence passed as they continued to hold hands.

“Ah,” he let out a laugh. “What’s your name?”

“...My… name?” They closed their eyes as their head started to hurt again. 

_K… Yo…. report…_

_...Yo… you shall be assigned to…_

_…_

_..._

“My name… is Kyo… maybe.” Well, that’s all they can recall. If anything, the sophisticated revenant said earlier was true then that might as well be their name; they won’t be remembering anything else.

“Maybe? Ah, move out the way!” The man called Oliver pushed them against the wall as they watched as a large hammer and a bunch of other objects fell from the hole above. There weren't that many things that fell, but that still could have injured them.

After they made sure nothing was going to fall Oliver released them and walked over to the small pile.

“Oh, at least it didn’t break.” Oliver said as he picked up the hammer. They walked over and looked at the pile. A pipe and a concrete block.

“...”

“Um... don’t worry! There’s always plenty of weapons lying around so you can replace it anytime!”

“Only three people, huh?”

“Huh?”

“They hid your weapon too… Just one person… hm.” They reached over to grab the pipe and swung it around. It was light and since they don’t need to strike the heart to kill…

“In that case… They should be easy to take out when we get back. Don’t you think?” They turned over to look at Oliver.

“Eh?! Wait, wait!” Oliver looked back at them. They looked over to the man’s eyes. 

‘… reddish brown like his hair…’ Seems like the mask wasn’t that dirty after all. Through the mask Kyo thought that he had an honest impression, with how his eyes shined. 

“Do you want to continue working with them?” They asked.

“Wha-?”

“I see no point in working with them. They can’t be trusted, so why work for them?”

“But what about-?!”

“It’s not safe for us to be here. Don’t you agree?” Glancing down they checked themselves over. They had a military vest to protect them. They looked over to the shocked Oliver. Looking at his wide eyes, they felt a warm feeling spread throughout their chest.

“Well, should we head out?” They asked him as they began to walk away.

“Ah, wait! Don’t leave me behind!” They listened to him scramble to follow. 

At the turn of the narrow passage there laid a body. It looked like a revenant, but it had a horn growing out the side of its head.

“A dead Lost.” Oliver stated. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“Dead?” They asked.

“Ah, I say “dead” but they’re not really dead. It’s just a dormant state before they turn into real monsters… or so I heard.” They raised a brow and approached the body, kneeling down to look it over.

“Sometimes it can take years for the transformation to start so we can just leave them.” Oliver spoke from behind them.

“I see…” They stood to leave. Unfortunately, the other Lost were not dormant and after walking past some debris the duo was attacked. The cramped area and the swarm of Lost was-

“Irritating…” They said.

“Haha… well this is how it is….” Oliver sighed.

“And we’re supposed to be looking for blood beads like this?”

“I know how you feel, but that’s all we can do to survive…”

“Hmm…” And that was how they spent the next thirty minutes, walking around rubble and “killing” Lost.

“Oh, over here!” At Oliver’s enthusiastic shout, Kyo turned from bludgeoning the head of a Lost in. They saw that Oliver was standing next to a chest.

“What is it?” They asked.

“Oh! Um… let’s see…” Oliver quickly opened it. “Oh, this is great!” And pulled out a sword. “Here! For you!” They walked over to him and looked the weapon over.

“Don’t worry, these weapons were made during Operation Queenslayer, so it’s definitely good quality.” They raised a brow.

“Military weaponry is just lying around?”

“I told you, didn’t I? There’s more Lost than revenants so weapons are always lying around.”

“I see…” They gripped the sword and swung it around. “Not bad…” They looked over at Oliver.

“Thank you.” And they could see him smile with how his eyes shined. 

“Your welcome! So, let’s go look for the blood beads, we don’t have to worry… well not that much anymore…” Killing the Lost really did get easier with the sword. Things were going smoothly… but…

“Watch out!” A Lost had jumped behind Oliver and Kyo managed to cut its hand off, kicking it away. Oliver tried to turn around but instead he stumbled and fell.

“Oliver?!” Watching as the Lost was getting ready to attack him, Kyo put as much force as they could and thrust the blade towards the Lost, beheading it. With no more enemies nearby, they walked back over to Oliver.

“I’m… I’m alright… I’m just dizzy…” Kyo went to try to support him as he stood up.

“Ha… now it’s my turn to thank you… So!” He said with too much cheer, “let’s keep going!” With Oliver’s condition Kyo tried to avoid the Lost… however as Oliver said the place was swarming with them. As such many skirmishes happened and they could see Oliver get worse. 

They reached a huge metal door, they tried to listen to see if they could hear any Lost, but nothing. They opened the door and saw a narrow passageway. 

‘Not good, if we get surrounded here…’ Kyo glanced over at Oliver. He was hunched over and they could see his skin get more sickly. Oliver noticed the worried look sent his way.

“Huff...huff...I’m fine, really… Ha ha…” Kyo merely looked at him. 

“That wasn’t very convincing was it?” Oliver heaved his weapon back to his shoulders in faux confidence.

“Don’t worry! It’s just the masks! These masks are the old type. So, it’s hard to breathe in them. Um, how are you doing?” Kyo stared rather unimpressed at the horrible change in subject. 

What to do… they thought. 

“If it’s your mask then switch with me.”

“Eh?! No, no that’s fine!”

“You’re having trouble breathing so if it’s the mask switch with me.”

“Ah, no it’s fine! Besides if we take our masks off now, it’ll be bad for us!”

“...” Really… what to do with someone like him. They walked forward in silence. 

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Um. That girl, she’s your friend, right? We should find some blood beads and go back for her quick.” Oliver uncomfortable with his partner’s silence tried to start up another conversation with them.

“...Has it really been that long?” It shouldn’t have been.

“I don’t know, but I do know that we need to hurry up… I don't know what would happen if they left us…”

“Would they really leave us after making a huge fuss about us looking for blood beads?”

“Well, maybe. After all this could be considered a loss if we don’t come back after a while and who knows how patient they are…”

This situation really was quite awful. They felt something drip onto their head.

“Above!” And it was about to get worse. Slimes fell down and with having to fight in such a narrow space, they managed to attract another Lost that was proficient with a sword. As expected, they could see Oliver’s condition deteriorate further.

‘Have to finish this up quick!’ They felt their body grow cold and then flash with heat. With a burst of strength, they managed to take down the humanoid Lost while Oliver finished up the slimes.

They listened to him heave in air… really, what to do...

“I’m… I’m alright now…” But to keep going… sitting here and waiting was a death sentence.

They made it to a ladder and climbed up. Walking a bit further the path split.

“Hm. Where to go.”

“That one leads further in, let’s go see what’s down here.” Kyo pointed to the stairs.

They really didn’t expect much but…

“Oh, a mistle!” Things seem to be looking up. A mistle was lying beyond a gate. Kyo reached forward and pushed it open.

“No Lost.” They stated as they walked in. 

“Look another chest!” Opening it Oliver pulled out a coat that looked similar to his.

“Oh, a blood veil this time? Here, I already have one like this.” Oliver walked over and held it out to them.

“Blood veil?” They took the coat but just held it and looked over at Oliver.

“... You… don’t know?” He asked, stunned.

“I forgot everything.” Kyo explained. Yes, they forgot everything but how to fight. They couldn’t help but wonder why.

“Eh! Really! I-I just thought you had a hard time remembering!” At Oliver’s rather surprised shout they couldn’t really help but think that losing all their memories might be a bit worse than what they had talked about earlier. 

“Hm… is it… really that bad?” They can still talk, walk, and fight. They forgot some important information yes but right now; they don’t really need it.

“Yes! You-you shouldn’t even-! Oh no…” He held his head, extremely worried. 

“Don’t worry, I can fight so I won’t hold you back.” They couldn’t really understand why else he would be concerned. 

“That’s not what I’m concerned about…”

“...”

“No, it’s alright! So, I’ll help you out ok?” Oliver seemed to light up with determination as he looked over at them.

“Okay…”

“Alright so you need to know how blood veils work. Blood veils are clothing that use ichor to active itself.” So, it’s just clothes but...

“Activate?”

“Yes, ummm lets see…. Blood veils are already reinforced with many properties, but blood veils have a hidden weapon that activates with ichor.” He said, sounding like he memorized it from somewhere.

“What is ichor?” Well that was a new thing.

“It’s blood from a revenant… we have two…”

“...Why is that?”

“Oh. Um... I don’t know…” Seeing Oliver’s confused and lost expression, Kyo sighed.

“...Let’s rest first…” They weren’t going anywhere with just explanations.

Both of them walked over and rested at the mistle. Kyo could see that Oliver’s condition was improving, but not by much, he still looked tired and his eyes, glossy.

“How are you?” Kyo asked.

“Hm, oh, I’m alright don’t worry!” He was better yes, but not by much.

“...”

“... Um, let's go find some blood beads. I’ll show you how to use blood veils.” Oliver coaxed. 

“... Alright. Your mask is it still suited for you?” They conceded. They unfortunately could not rest at the mistle forever, waiting for Oliver to get better, no matter how much they want to.

“Ah, yeah! Don’t worry.” Oliver stated standing up. Kyo looked at him. Seeing as he wasn’t swaying. Kyo sighed and stood up, grabbing their sword.

“Then let's go.” 

As promised Oliver showed them his blood veil and let them try out the new one with him until they got the hang of it.

As they progressed Kyo kept an eye on Oliver as he battled, waiting to stop and pull him back when needed. However, he seemed fine, the mistle from before seemed to help him significantly.

It was when they reached into another narrow tunnel that they saw one of the other men that was forced to search for blood beads.

“Oh, didn’t they enter first?” Oliver walked up to him.

“Oliver, wait.” Something wasn’t right with the man. He was holding himself, writhing, but Oliver walked forward anyway.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” He asked. The man turned to face him, and Oliver was flung back.

“Damn!” Kyo wasted no time in slashing the man down when he was preparing to attack Oliver. After making sure the man faded away, they turned back to Oliver seeing him struggle to stand up.

“Oliver?” Kyo quickly walked over to him, kneeling down to get a better look at his condition.

“… That could’ve gone better…” Oliver let out a weak laugh. He tried to stand up again, but only managed to move himself up a bit before falling back down.

“...I’ll- I’ll catch up to you in a bit…” He said, once he realized he couldn't move.

“Oliver.” Kyo went to help him up.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. Go on.” But Oliver instead moved away from them.

“_Oliver._” Kyo stated again, moving to pick him up.

“You...You just focus on finding Blood Beads, alright? That girl is waiting for you. And if you don’t...”

“...” If what he said earlier was true, then they really didn’t have enough time to waste. If they don’t make it back the bastards could be gone and who knows where they’ll be.

“...Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. Go on.” Even then, could they drag him back to the mistle from earlier while fending off the regenerating Lost? They could see him hunched over, trying to hide his condition. Oliver turned away, not looking at them, his mask shielding his face. They hated that.

“...Oliver…” Kyo grasped his chin and looked him straight in the eyes. 

“I _will_ come back after I deal with everything, so if it gets dangerous go back to the mistle from earlier. Don’t try to catch up to me.” 

“...” Oliver stayed silent, but he responded with cheer. “Al-Alright, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” 

“...” Kyo let go of his chin, slowly stood up and walked away. As they were about to turn the corner and exit his line of sight, they glanced back to him. Oliver was leaning against the wall now, his body slumped over. Feeling eyes on him, he looked over at them and put a hand up to show that he was fine.

“Don’t worry, just go.” Oliver said, tone calm. 

“...” All they could do was nod and… walk away, eyes glinting with resolve.

‘Quickly, I have to finish this quickly.’

* * *

They sat in front of the mistle, tired and annoyed. The time spent searching around the caves had led to nothing and they were not sure how much time had passed.

‘Is there even a tree here?’ They couldn’t help thinking. They had searched everywhere, went down and up and even backtracked just in case they missed anything.

Their thoughts couldn’t help but wonder to Oliver and the young woman from before. She never did state her name... Kyo shook their head.

‘I have to keep going.’

Grabbing their sword Kyo stood and started to walk down the cave path.

‘This isn’t good at this rate-who!?’

A young man was leaning against the cave wall. He looked nothing like the people in the pit or the captors. Right beside him lay a red sword.

...Damn. He looked well rested and was seemingly very confident in his skills considering he was just standing there without any concern.

‘Can I even fight him as I am now?’

Kyo glanced around. The cave was curved here. No hidden spaces so this one could easily see if he was going to be attacked.

How annoyingly clever.

… They made too much noise seeing as the man’s red eye was looking over at them. Kyo elected to ignore him and instead looked over at the “dead” Lost that was in the corner of the curve. 

No… he would have dealt with it if it was “alive.”

With no other choice Kyo walked towards the man and he in turn picked up his sword and moved away from the wall. They both gazed at each other, waiting for the other to make a move first.

“Are you a fellow explorer?” The man starts. “It appears you’re alone.”

“...Yes,” Kyo nodded. “I’ve been wandering around here for quite some time. And you?”

“...I’m on my own at the moment too,” he stated, “but I was hoping for a partner for the path ahead.” Kyo paused.

“Ahead?” What could be so bad up ahead? 

“The cave becomes more convoluted and I feel that going alone would be rather risky.”

“...I see.” Was all Kyo could say.

“What do you say? Would you mind working together, at least until we’re through here?” The offer was rather kind to a complete stranger. Too kind really.

“...” Kyo narrowed their eyes, looking the man over.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to stab you in the back. The miasma and the Lost here are enough trouble as it is.” The man sensing Kyo’s suspicion quickly reassured them.

“...Alright then, just for now.” They really didn't have much of a choice. Time was of the essence. 

“Thanks a lot. I’m glad to work with you.” The way the man responded made him even more suspicious. 

“...Yes, and to you as well.” Was it really that bad up ahead? 

As they walked the narrow cave expanded into a large dome like area. And with more space...

“An ambush.” More enemies.

“Hmm.” Like the man stated the path ahead was rather confusing. But at the curve of the cave, wasn’t there…

“Where are you going?” He asked as they turned back. 

“The path back there had a split. The upper one should let me see what is going on.” Kyo explained. 

“Ah, good idea.”

“Hm… Did you use it?” He was standing there for some time.

“...Pardon?” While he sounded confused, his face was a careful blank. Well his hair covered one of his eyes and his mask made it really hard to see any kind of expression. His single eye however was steady and unwavering. 

“Did you use it to look ahead? I was wondering how you knew that the cave was going to become more dangerous.”

“...” He stayed quiet as they both walked on and Kyo let the matter drop. Just as they thought, there was a small opening on the upper path. The opening had a ladder leading right down to the waiting Lost.

“We should be able to go around the first group and head to the other side.” Kyo stated. The Lost were spaced out so they could sneak past them if they were quiet enough.

“There doesn’t seem to be that many Lost. We might be able to see more from there too.” The man glanced over at the other side that they were referring to before turning back to them. He nodded.

“Yes, I’ll follow your lead.”

“...Very well.” They really didn’t know why he was allowing this. Shouldn’t the more rested one lead? Kyo has no time for an interrogation so they just ignored it.

As they snuck past the patrolling Lost Kyo focused on how the man was acting. He was calm for someone who was seemingly worried about the Lost. Kyo couldn’t help but wonder what this man's goal was.

Reaching the other side, Kyo saw that there was only one Lost patrolling. Kyo gripped their sword. The Lost, while alone, was also in hearing distance of a much larger one. Should they attack, the other Lost would no doubt come charging for them. Combat wise however, it was much better to be attacked here. 

“Ready?” They asked the stranger. He nodded.

“Yes.” Kyo charged one of their long-ranged gifts and fired it towards the single Lost. As expected, it screeched and ran towards them only to be swiftly killed by the man's sword. 

The screech drew the attention of one of the bigger Lost however, Kyo had the advantage of being on higher ground and was easily able to disperse the Lost with their ranged attacks, the man assisting with his gifts as well.

Seeing as how a wide space was now clear Kyo jumped down in search of more Lost that were wandering alone. They could see two more standing close to a ladder. They didn’t want to be attacked while climbing so they moved to attack the two Lost.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” The man asked, stopping them.

“I’d rather not be attacked while climbing.” Kyo replied.

“If we climb quickly, they shouldn’t be able to notice us.” So much for following their lead. Why was he so insistent for them to climb? But if they do manage to make it, they won’t have to waste any more energy in battling.

“...Alright then, I’ll take your word for this. Do you want to go first?” They’ll try out his method first, there were more benefits this way if it does work out.

“No, I’ll be on guard just in case the Lost do come. This is my suggestion, after all. I’ll take responsibility in guarding you.” They… couldn’t really understand him.

“...very well.” As uneasy as this made them feel Kyo turned their back towards the stranger and started climbing. They managed to make it up. They turned back around to see the man start climbing up. Kyo kept watch until he was safely standing on the ground.

As they started to walk forward Kyo saw sunlight.

“An exit?” As they got closer, they noticed the sunlight shining on a silver tree.

“A bloodspring, but it looks empty at the moment.” The stranger beside them spoke.

“Ah…” If they could do what the woman from before did however… but the problem was this stranger. Who knows what would happen if he could find out what they did?

“Could you go back and check on the Lost from before. I want to go back and search around just in case I missed something.” Naturally, it made the man suspicious.

“Hm? And what will you be doing?” He asked them.

“Nothing. But if you’re worried about me stabbing you in the back-” Kyo jumped down towards the tree. “You should be able to hear me come up. Is this fine?” They could tell that he had some suspicions left, but he nodded his head.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” And he walked off.

Kyo waited until he was further away before turning back to the tree. They had to do this quickly. They brought up the sword to their hand.

Louis really didn’t understand the revenant’s paranoia with the Lost. However, he wasn’t the one that was in desperate need of blood beads, so he wasn’t one to judge. He checked over to where the Lost was roaming from the perch. He didn’t see any other path.

Mentally, he counted the number of Blood Beads he had on him. He was planning to give it to the revenant. 

Seeing as how they were acting; he was prepared to walk back and tell them that there was no other path and was going to give them the beads when they left the area. 

When he arrived back to the tree he gasped. He knows that the spring was dried up, he had explored here before. So how was it that the revenant was holding a blood bead in their hands?

He looked down and saw blood on the floor and he could still see blood dripping from their hand.

“How could this-!?” It was then that Louis realized that he made a mistake. With the way the revenant spun around with a guarded expression Louis suddenly realized why they were so paranoid. 

If someone else were to find out what they could do, what could happen to them? Especially since they seemed so tired from wandering around. 

The revenant raised their sword.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” The man said. Kyo didn’t really believe him. While they managed to get the blood spring active, they were too slow and now were in a trap of their own making.

The man could easily attack them from above and who knows what would happen, they know he had some gifts that allowed him to attack from afar.

“Am I really suppose to believe that?” Kyo asked. The stalemate continued before the man threw his sword to the ground in the pit and put his hands up. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, I swear. There’s a path up ahead, I won’t move until you climb it.”

Kyo was still wary. He didn’t need a sword to hurt them. But… they can’t just stand here forever. They reluctantly put their sword away.

“Do not move.” Was the only warning they gave before they turned around and walked.

The climb was quick but nerve racking. The man was silent but that made them more nervous. In the end they made it up safely. They heard a thump and turned to see that the man had jumped down to get his sword. He glanced up towards them. Now their positions were reversed. If they wanted, Kyo could attack him right now.

Kyo moved away. They could hear him walk up the path and saw him soon after. They made eye contact and the man continued walking towards them, no movement to attack them. When he reached the top, the two stared each other down.

“Could you fill me in on the details later?” He asked. Kyo in response merely walked over to the dried up mistle and squeezed some blood from the cut they made earlier.

They could see the man's eye widen in surprise as the mistle rejuvenated.

“That’s all you need to know, don’t you think?” Kyo stated as they felt their wound close. He merely nodded.

After they rested, Kyo did think about running away and leaving the man to some Lost. But he seemed to be trustworthy. Seemed. And they cannot spend too much time and energy on Lost alone.

As such they walked together in a tense silence. Though the man did attempt to make small talk. 

“This lake was formed from a hole created by a Thorn of Judgment.” Like right now.

They would usually stay silent, but…

“A Thorn of Judgement?” They asked, hoping for more information. The man nodded and continued on as if Kyo wasn’t ignoring him earlier.

“Yes, they appeared during the Great Collapse. No one knows how they came to be.”

“I see…”

Everything pulled back into an awkward silence again and their time was spent killing Lost. Luckily, it didn’t last long as soon they could both see sunlight.

“Ah, light from the surface.” They heard the man state.

“An exit?” Kyo asked. They rather not get their hopes up again.

“Yes, seems so.”

Kyo was thankful that they could finally exit the caves. They reached into their pocket and grabbed the blood bead that they had. Hopefully it’s enough, if not…

However, the scene that Kyo saw when they reached the surface was very different than what they anticipated. The dying captors and-

“Oliver?!” How the hell did he manage to get here before them? No never mind, he was clearly in worse condition than before. 

Gripping the blood bead Kyo ran forward with the intent of giving it to him. However, instead of Oliver turning around to say something like “I’m fine, don’t worry” they were greeted with a hammer coming towards their head.

Too close.

They were too close.

Kyo shut their eyes and turned away hoping that the impact wouldn’t kill them. They heard the sound of metal clashing instead.

They opened their eyes to see the stranger from before standing in front of them. Oliver was flung back but when he looked at them, his eyes held that eerie glow and they could see black lines marking his chest. 

“Once someone is lost, they can never come back.” The stranger advised, looking over to them.

Can never… come back… So, this is becoming lost… Sensing their hesitation the man glanced over to them before turning back towards Oliver.

“Cast aside your doubt.” He said as he fell into a fighting stance.

“Oliver…” they glanced over at the woman. Did he attack her? 

… if that’s the case then Oliver would have wanted to be stopped. They were sure of that.

“Understood.” They readied their sword.

“Don’t worry.” The man said. “We can win this.”

Before they could reply Oliver let out a roar and charged forward towards them. Kyo dodged and tried to strike at Oliver’s heart while the man fired a projectile to distract him. Oliver was hit, a large slash appearing on his back, but he managed to leap some distance back.

Oliver charged forward again swinging down. His movements were wild but slow and so it was easy to move around.

They seemed to be making huge amounts of progress. Oliver was covered in cuts and he was slowing down. As Kyo moved in for the kill Oliver suddenly stopped and a huge wave of energy expelled out from him. Kyo was thrown back and they could hear the man land close to them.

When they looked back up Oliver-

“No… you… aren’t Oliver anymore…” a huge thing towered over them. Its skin was grey, devoid of the earlier cuts and it was hunched over gripping a giant hammer. It roared and charged at them only to be distracted by the stranger slashing across its legs. It stumbled but was able to turn around toward the man.

The monster struck down with its hammer, able to hit a larger area, and they could see the stranger having trouble guarding against such attacks. 

Kyo stood up and fired a projectile over at it. It was hit in the back and angrily turned around to face them. The man quickly moved back while Kyo charged forward. Kyo managed to cut its arm however its other hand began to glow a blood red.

“Move back!” The man warned. Taking heed of his warning Kyo leaped back as the area surrounding the monster fired a huge stream of energy.

As soon as the energy subsided the both of them charged, attacking the monster with a flurry of swings. It roared and stroked down with its hammer. The man jumped back but-

‘There!’ Kyo activated the blood veil that Oliver had taught them how to use. It was a hound blood veil and the two mouths grabbed each of the monster’s arm. With its chest laid bare Kyo thrusted their sword into its heart.

The monster froze before letting out a loud screech. Kyo jumped back as the monster staggered and fell to its knees. Time seemed to slow as it fell forward, dead. 

Slowly, it started to dissolve, the wind blowing the pieces away. Kyo stared at where the monster died, knowing that it would come back.

...but this feeling...

“Sorry, Oliver. I can’t come back for you now.”

Oliver is gone, even though they were going to come back to get him. Even though they saw him moments ago. A hollow feeling spread throughout them, but they walked towards the woman. The man was already over there making sure she was alright.

“How is she.” Kyo asked. She groaned and Kyo fell to their knees to look over her.

“She’s alright.” The man said. He stood up and grabbed his sword looking around the area in case there were other enemies lying in wait. The woman opened her eyes and looked at them. She tried to sit up, but she was still weak. Kyo placed their hands on her shoulders to help her sit up.

She held up her hand wanting... something. Kyo placed their hand into hers and she slowly gripped it. Was she afraid? But as soon as she did that she seemed to relax.

“By the way,” Kyo glanced over to the stranger as he spoke to them. “The both of you-“

“-the duty of all revenants.” A voice said out of nowhere. “There are no exceptions.”

They all turned to see an ominous stone lying on the ground.

“A vestige.” The man stated. “Best to stay away from those stones. Anyone who touches them is defiled, transformed into the Lost. Don’t listen to their whispers.”

“Someone has to be sacrificed.” A familiar voice cried out.

“...Oliver?” That couldn’t be, they saw him die and yet… if a part of him is still here...

“Without blood beads, we won’t make it!” Kyo felt their body… fall into a trance.

“Once she’s settled down, let’s get out of here.” The man continued, unaware of Kyo’s dilemma.

They know he said not to touch it… but their body was telling them to. They tried to fight it, but… Oliver… are you there? Can you… come back?

They reached their hand out.

“Wait, what are you doing?!” 

And grabbed it. They understood that the rock was sharp, so they tried to handle it with care, but the rock _expanded_. The spikes ripped through their skin as the hollow feeling in their chest grew.

Guilt.

Thirst.

Sorrow.

These things that they could name began to eat away at them. They let out an agonized yell as pain spread through their body. They could feel something tearing into their arm, traveling further towards their chest.

“Let go! It’ll swallow you up!” Contrary to the man’s advice the woman’s…

“It’s alright.” She said in a soft voice, resting a hand on their shoulder. “You can do it.”

Do what, Kyo wanted to ask. At the moment they realized that the emotions they were feeling were like a wave, slowly subsiding. It was still there but Kyo could differentiate between themself and the emotions. That realization separated the emotions from them even further and a bright light enveloped them all.

When Kyo came to, they were alone in a dark environment standing on a stone path. They looked behind but there was nothing there. Looks like they can only go forward.

They walked, wary of any attacks, only for a bright light to shine down and an image appeared. It was Oliver on his knees, begging.

“Please let us keep them just this once!” The shadow cried out. “We won’t make it if you take them.”

“All revenants must pay a levy of blood beads. There are no exceptions.” An indifferent voice stated. 

“I’m sorry…” it whispered in the end.

“What is this?” Kyo wanted to stay and look but the image disappeared. With no choice they walked forward again.

A child was crying out. But all they saw was Oliver standing in front of a blood spring.

“Someone has to be sacrificed. Without blood beads… we won’t make it!” Kyo raised a hand towards Oliver’s shadow wanting to touch it.

“Did you kill, Oliver? To live?” They asked. He disappeared, unable to answer that question.

Kyo walked forward again.

“The few humans that remain are under Silva’s control,” an annoying, familiar voice said. Kyo looked over to see Oliver on his knees surrounded by that bastards’ goons.

“Wandering revenants like us are forced to hunt for blood beads or face death. Even if some revenants must be… sacrificed… for our survival.” The image faded away.

“Oliver… you…” the bastard was basically what Oliver’s motivation come to life. A cruel unfeeling thing with only survival on its mind. Oliver managed to kill them all alone, but if he was already capable of that… Why did you stay, Oliver? The image disappeared and Kyo walked forward towards a familiar cave. There Oliver was lying there, alone. 

“Well, I guess you reap what you sow… right?” He said to himself. Kyo’s chest tightened.

“What are you planning?” They said, knowing full well what he did.

“Well, that’s alright…” He said, ignoring the question he never heard. “What’s important is that… at least one of us makes it…” Oliver said, only to cut off with an agonizing yell.

Kyo stood there even long after the image faded away and they could see the other two standing in the distance.

“...idiot, why didn’t you just wait for me… no hold on… did you go back…” Kyo looked over at the woman. “To save her?” 

Yes… that’s right... when they came to the surface, everyone but the woman was killed, and Oliver was collapsed right next to her.

“Oliver…idiot, you were at your limit… why didn’t you wait for me?”

Oliver would never answer.

In the end Kyo walked up to the duo and the man looked over at them, surprise clearly seen. 

“What is this place?” He asked. 

“I don’t know.” They replied. “But, she…” Kyo turned over to the woman. She was looking at them, gaze steady. They walked over to her.

“Where are we?” Kyo asked.

“This is a memory echo, it’s a place where lost recollections still wander.” She answered.

“Is this the past of one of the Lost!? No. There’s no way.” The man was stunned by that revelation, but the woman paid him no heed.

“Come…” She said. “Let us move on. I believe it should take us back to the world outside this memory.” She pointed to a grand pair of doors. Considering the fact that the two made it here before they did, Kyo wondered if they had already tried to open it.

Kyo turned to the door. Walking up the stone steps the doors open with a creak and warm light shined down on them, blinding them.

Kyo woke up to the man gasping for breath. Kyo didn’t blame him, they were stunned too.

“What the hell was that?” Was all he said.

“It was a memory, carved into that vestige by the one who left it behind.” Like before, the woman answered as calm as ever.

“I didn’t expect that I’d get dragged into it too.” He said, in the end. Kyo sat up. They lifted their hand that was holding the vestige, but it was gone. And yet, that grief, that guilt. Kyo could still feel it inside them. Becoming a part of them, even if it wasn’t theirs.

“We both... melted into you.” The woman stated, looking over at them. Kyo looked over to her.

“...I see.” This made things more confusing. Does that mean anyone could experience other people's memories if they stood close enough to them?

“I can’t believe this. What power.” The man stated looking at them both. He stood up.

“Come with me. I know a spot where we can rest.” He took off his mask, allowing Kyo to see the rest of the man’s face.

“My name is Louis.” He said. “I’m researching blood beads.” The man named Louis walked up to them and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.” 

Kyo slowly grabbed his hand.

“My name is Kyo.” They said. “Thank you for everything.” He lifted them up and they could feel the woman trying to assist by placing her hands on their shoulders. It took a moment for Kyo to get their bearings, but they didn’t feel ill from that unexpected trip.

“So, where are we going?” Kyo asked. 

“Back to my base. It’s not that far away.” He answered.

“I see, then-” Something caught Kyo’s eye. A hammer that was lying on the ground. 

Kyo walked closer to it. No doubt about it, it’s Oliver’s.

Kyo reached out and grabbed it.

“Can I… take this with me?” They asked, looking at the man- Louis.

He nodded. “Ah, don’t worry, we have space for that.” 

“...thank you.”

The trip towards the base of this man was full of silence. With this silence, Kyo decided to look at this man, Louis, over. He had placed his mask back on and was currently leading them around to avoid hordes of Lost. They were still suspicious of him and what he was planning, but it was dangerous to be left alone at this moment.

“Could you tell me what happened to you?” He asked, after a bit of time had passed. Kyo wondered if he hated silence. 

“We were captured by revenants in order to look for blood beads.” Here Kyo turned to the woman.

“Did they do anything to you?”

“No…” She stated, voice soft. “They said… that if you didn’t show up that I’ll be killed… to teach you a lesson.”

“I see. Ah, wait the others!” Kyo stopped. Yes, that’s right, excluding the two men from earlier there was about six people that were kept prisoner. But the leader is dead now. So, what happened to them?

“There’s no point in going back. The man that fought against the revenants that kept you captured probably allowed them to escape. Going back to look for them will tire us out and it is more dangerous to roam around at night with the Lost.” The man stated.

“...I see.” The trip fell back into silence. But the woman slowly reached over and grabbed their hand, lightly squeezing it. They grasped her hand and held it all the way to the end of this little journey.

The base that the man was talking about ended up being a rundown church.

“When you walk in, there’s going to be a bunch of other people, don’t be intimidated.” The man - Louis stated.

“Ah, I see.” Kyo turned to the woman.

“Will you be fine with that?” She tightened her grip on their hand and nodded.

“Anywhere you will go, I will follow.” She said.

“Leave your weapons out here. Don’t worry, I won’t damage it or throw it away.”

“... Alright.” They placed Oliver’s hammer and their sword down, right next to the door. They glanced over to the man and he nodded in approval.

The man- Louis opened the door. As they walked inside, they could see three people. One was sitting at the bar; another was standing in front of what looked to be a safe and the last one was standing in front of a vehicle.

“Everyone we have two new tenants; they’ll be staying here.”

“Picked up some stragglers huh, Louis?” The person at the bar spoke.

The man- Louis nodded. “Ah, Yakumo we only have one extra room could you go and get the spare bed from the storage?”

“Tsk.” The person called Yakumo clicked his tongue before going down towards some stairs.

“Murasame, there’s some weapons outside, I’ll need you to repair them.”

“Got it, Louis~!” As the people moved about Kyo turned to the ma- Louis.

“Would you like me to do something?” They asked.

“No, it’s fine, just stay put until we have everything prepared. Though, your blood veil, could you please remove it? I’d like to get it repaired as well.”

“...very well.” Kyo slid the blue veil off of them before giving it to him. 

“Thank you. Oh, and your masks, let me store them.” While this place did have a mistle to purify the air, they couldn’t help but feel tense as they removed their mask, giving it to him. It was also when they handed the mask to him, Kyo noticed that they had subconsciously taken off the metal frame that hugged their face.

A hand with a broken mask came into their line of vision. The woman had also taken off her mask, but the frame was still on her face. Their body moving automatically, Kyo carefully removed her frame and gave it to the man. He looked over the gear before walking off.

Kyo and the woman watched the others run around for a while. Seeing as how she was staying quiet Kyo turned over to the woman.

“How are you?” She had been holding their hand still, showing no signs of letting go.

“I am… fine.” Kyo noticed her eyes looking at the outside of the “balcony” of the church.

“... come on, let’s go. You want to see it, right?” She looked up to them as they led her outside.

There they could see that red wall was spread as far as they could see. Not only that spikes erupted from the ground amongst rubble, towering over everything. The skies were cloudy, and the sun was setting painting a rather depressing scenery. The feeling of _wrong_ from when they had first woken up came back with full force. 

Why was that, Kyo couldn’t help but wonder. Why did this scenery discomfort them so?

“Ugly, isn’t it?” A voice said. They both turned to see Louis walk up to them. He stood there next to them, silent as he looked over the scenery. 

“The red mist showed up a short time after the Queen was defeated.” He explained. “And when it did, it trapped everyone and everything inside, giving birth to the society of revenants ruled by Silva.” This Kyo knew somewhat. The red wall appearing, the Queen, and this person called Silva.

“The Gaol of the Mists…” Louis continued. “As time passed, that was the name people gave to the world inside. The creatures inside the miasma wander in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth, always searching for blood beads to sustain them.”

Kyo glanced down at the blood bead that they were unable to give. They had thought that the pit that they had woken up in was a single incident done by desperate men. But according to Louis, it seems to be much more common. 

“Revenants need to have blood. Without it they turn into those creatures we called the Lost.” Louis turned to them. “The revenants who captured you were desperately searching for blood, terrified of losing themselves. It’s a common fate these days.”

Their mind flashed to the crowd of men. Yes, they could understand why they did it, but Kyo was still filled with anger. Because of them Oliver and who knows how many others…

“But ripples are beginning to form.” Louis continued. He looked into Kyo’s eyes.

“You cleared the miasma and revitalized the blood spring. Where did you learn to do that?” The reason as to why they were here and why they survived was because of these powers.

“... I don’t know.” They answered. “From what I can tell, I just woke up today. She-” Kyo turned to the woman. “Seems to know what I am able to do but… it seems to be on instinct rather than knowledge.” She would never tell them, but when they were in danger, she would suddenly know what Kyo needed to do. They turned back to the man.

“Forgive me. I myself seem to have lost all my memories as well.” They only know how to fight, anything else seemed to be lost. Louis frowned.

“You’ve forgotten? Anything you do remember?” Kyo shook their head.

“No, nothing at all.”

“... that’s unusual, losing so much of your memory. Well, I suppose it was the same for her.” He concluded looking over to the woman. He turned back to Kyo.

“For now, just take it easy. Make yourself at home. You look a bit tired. It’s almost nighttime anyway. Why don’t you go rest... Ah, which bed do you want?” Kyo blinked.

“Which bed?” Why would they need to answer that?

“Yes, right now we have one spare room and a spare bed up here. Though, with you, you might like the room more.” That was an odd… suggestion. What did he mean by that anyway...

“...No, I would like the spare cot. She could have the room.” At their answer the man fell silent.

“...I see. Let’s ask her.” Kyo blinked again. Was the bed that important?

“Which bed do you want?” He asked the woman, ignoring Kyo’s confused expression. She turned to look at Kyo and they nodded in reassurance. 

“...I… want to rest out here… I want to see… the outside…” She looked back over at Kyo. They did want her to go rest in a warmer area, but… if this is what she wants.

“...Alright then, I’ll take the room.” Kyo caved. The man called Louis nodded and looked over at Kyo.

“I’ll have your stuff moved there. Good night.” Kyo nodded.

“...Yes, good night.” Really, that man was too suspicious.

* * *

Louis was working into the night when Yakumo walked up to the desk.

“What is it?” He asked, looking up.

“Those people,” Yakumo started, trying to be as quiet as he can. “Why’d you bring them here?” Ah, here it is. Louis was hoping for the talk to happen later, but this wasn’t such a bad time.

“Yakumo, do you know what is going on right now?” He started, putting down the papers he was looking over.

“Yeah,” Yakumo nodded, “miasma’s getting worse, blood beads running dry. We have to ration, Louis.” Louis nodded, before leaning forward to look at Yakumo in the eye.

“The importance of that person, Yakumo, is that they can revitalize blood springs and mistle.” Yakumo’s eyes widened and he jumped up from where he was leaning on the wall. 

“What!” Louis nodded again.

“Yes, I couldn’t believe it myself when I first saw it, but they are capable of it.” A moment of silence passed only to be broken by Yakumo. 

“Well, looks like your goody-two-shoes act finally paid off for you, huh. Where did they come from?” Louis frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing. 

“I don’t know. They themself said that they remember nothing.” Yakumo looked at Louis, a brow raised.

“And you believe that?”

“...” Louis fell into deep thought.

It was indeed suspicious. However, Davis himself had something similar. The problem was their power. Davis is an ordinary revenant that died too many times. This person, Kyo, basically came out of nowhere with abilities that was a godsend to this society.

“Davis is one such example of that, Yakumo.” Louis answered. It’s better to not raise the tension against the two groups too much.

“Yeah, but Davis worked with other people that we can track. This one, there’s nothing that you could find out right?”

...Yes, that’s true as well. Their new tenant was an enigma. Black hair, silver eyes, and a slim build the made it hard to tell whether they were man or woman. Their only companion, Io, remembered nothing about them. There was nothing that Louis could see that could stand out, nothing that he could use to get a glimpse of who they are. Nothing except-

_Sharp eyes._

_“The upper one should let me see what is going on.”_

_“Did you use it?”_

_A sword pointed at him, with wary eyes._

_“Am I really suppose to believe that?”_

Their cleverness. Which is why he was here right now, in the late-night working.

“Yakumo, right now that person, Kyo, doesn’t trust us.” Yakumo snorted.

“Well right back at them.” Louis turned to him with a stern look.

“Yakumo. This cannot be taken lightly. While they have forgotten everything, they are very suspicious of their surroundings. I have to make sure they don’t slip away at night.” And the reason as to why he was staying up all night was revealed. Yakumo grew angry. 

“What! And why would they run off?” Yakumo could not fathom as to why they would run away from here, especially since Louis was helping them out.

“Because they don’t trust us,” Louis explained. “They stated that earlier they were held captive by people and forced to look for blood beads. Right now, while we’re not as cruel, they know we need them for something.” Yakumo’s frown grew.

“Tsk, this make everything worse.” Louis turned back over to him, voice stern.

“That’s why, Yakumo, do not do anything drastic. We **_need _**them.” Looking down at the man, Yakumo couldn’t help but sigh.

“...Alright then. I get it, I get it. Don’t do anything to make em mad. You don’t have to worry.” He raised a hand to his head scratching it. “I’ll head off to sleep then. See ya Louis.” Louis nodded.

“Good night.” He said as Yakumo walked off.

The night moved on and Louis can’t help but look at the woman that looked so much like his sister. She was awake now, looking up at the night sky. Io, she called herself, but was that her true name or… was it his long lost sister? She lost all her memories, so there was no information that could be gained, but no matter what, whether she is his sister or not, he’ll keep her safe.

Footsteps echoed from the stairs and Louis turned to see Kyo. Looks like his intuition was right. 

They turned to see him working at his desk. No expression was seen, but Louis couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly that untrustworthy with how guarded they were. Well it didn’t matter, and besides; wariness was a good trait to have here.

Kyo looked over at the man working at the desk. Even late at night he seemed busy.

‘Researching blood beads huh.’ Well, none of their business. Not yet.

Seeing as the woman was awake, Kyo quickly walked over to the bed.

“How are you?” They asked.

“I’m doing well” was all she answered. They both fell into silence. Which wasn’t that surprising, considering that they didn’t really know each other well. Kyo went and sat down on the couch in front of the bed.

“It’s… warm here, isn’t it?” She asked them. Kyo raised a brow.

“Warm?”

“Yes...” Well, she had a point. This area didn’t have the misery that was in the pit.

“Everyone wants to know more about me,” She stated. Kyo blinked, all of their attention diverted to her. 

“But... I don’t know the answer to any of their questions. All I can remember is that my name is Io and that my place is by your side.” She looked straight at them, waiting. Wait… is she reporting to them? Kyo stayed silent.

“My name… I have no idea what it means…” She whispered to herself. The woman, Io seemed to fall into a trance.

“By my side?” Kyo coaxed. Hopefully, this could help her remember something.

“I’m not sure. It was simply decided.” She looked at them, eyes unwavering, different from her blank eyes from earlier.

“One does what must be done. And for me, that is my mission… to stay by your side.” Kyo fell into deep thought. Nothing about her reminds them on anyone. Just like her their head is blank. Well, not really. Unlike her, Kyo didn’t seem to have a driving purpose.

“Me?” They asked her, hoping for any information.

“Yes…” She stated. Nothing then. Kyo fell silent again. Their eyes caught onto her legs. One was fine, but the other one...

“And those bandages?” Kyo asked.

“I was wounded while searching for you…” She answered, voice calm. “I am not a very capable fighter.” 

“I see.” What relationship does this woman, Io, have with them? To spend their time roaming around to look for them and perhaps even dying multiple times until they found them? As they looked back over to her, they could see her eyes droop.

“Are you tired?” Kyo asked. She looked over to them. And shook her head no. Kyo sighed and stood up. They walked over to her.

“Just lie down.” She did so and Kyo pulled up the blanket to her chin and tucked her in.

“Just go to sleep.”

“But…” They patted her head.

“I’ll be fine.” She tried to keep her eyes open, staring at them. Slowly her eyes fluttered shut despite her best efforts. Kyo moved away when her breathing started to deepen, signaling that she was in a deep sleep.

They felt eyes on them. Looking over it was the man. 

‘Is he not going to sleep?’

The man- _Louis_ looked like he wanted to ask them something. Well, since there weren’t that many people…

Kyo walked over to him. His gaze never really did leave them.

“Do you need anything?”

Louis stared. He did want to clarify some things, to shed some light on this person and what they are capable of. However, their posture showed that they were still wary of him.

“Your ability to experience memories…” Louis started slowly, hoping that Kyo wouldn’t get angry, “and the powers to revitalize blood springs… are both unprecedented.”

Kyo looked down on him with an impassive face. Louis went a retrieved a vial from one of the drawers.

“Sorry, but could I get a sample of your blood? We might understand more if we analyze it.” Kyo didn’t answer nor move so Louis had to explain further.

“It won’t be much, so you won’t have to worry about blood thirst.” He assured.

Kyo stayed silent, but slowly they uncrossed their arms and held out a hand. Thankful that they were cooperating Louis retrieved a small knife and slowly cut their palm, placing the vial underneath the cut and making sure that none of the blood spilled. When the vial was sufficiently filled, he covered their palm with cotton to stem the bleeding.

“Keep it there while I put this up.” He capped the vial and reached in another drawer to grab some gauze.

“You… don’t need to do that.” He heard Kyo say.

“It’s fine.” Louis unraveled the gauze and quickly wrapped up their palm with precise movements.

“It’ll take a while to get the results.” He said, looking up to them. “The night is still young, why don’t you go and rest?” Kyo looked at him, face unreadable.

“...Alright then.” Louis watched as Kyo stepped away from the desk and go back downstairs. After he made sure that they were gone, Louis turned to the vial of blood.

Yes, he was sure of it. This person would definitely help him out with his goal.

He pulled out a microscope.

He thought to earlier, how they had tucked Io in with such gentle movements and waited for her to fall asleep. Someone like that was kind and…

_“Oliver?!” He tried to stop them as they rushed ahead, sensing that something was wrong with the man._

_Sorrowful, dim eyes._

_“Can I… take this with me?”_

_“Wait! The others!”_

_A figure staring down at the dissolving Lost, voice quiet:_

_“Sorry, Oliver. I can’t come back for you now.”_

They can- no they **_are_** empathetic towards others. They wouldn’t use people and throw them away for their own benefit. He’s sure of it. 

To save this world of despair Louis would do everything he can to atone. Things began to look bleak with the miasma spreading and blood springs drying up. Louis was worried that he might never be able to complete his mission. Now... there's finally a glimmer of hope.

All that’s left is to persuade them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A part of me wonders if I wrote too much.
> 
> Well, anyway the reason as to why I wrote this was because, basically, the silent protagonist thing made it hard to believe that we were really friends with everyone else, ruined some of the scenes for me, especially since we had like one line in the end.
> 
> Another reason was cuz I'm bored.
> 
> I also do have an idea of what to write after the true ending, so after I finish writing out what I call the first arc you guys don't have to worry about lack of updates. I already did place a hint in this chapter about what Kyo would find outside of the red mist.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyo woke at the edge of dawn, sunlight barely peeking through the horizon. While it was early, they got up off the bed…

Truth be told, they don’t think they can sleep anymore, even if they wanted to. They dreamed of Oliver- no. They dreamed of _being_ Oliver. But not always. Throughout the night they dreamed about other things: running in ruins, fighting in cramped spaces, and battling Lost. While they could see what was happening, it was fleeting.

‘Are these mine or someone else’s?’ They can’t help but think. Once, they were under the sky running, the next they were underground being suffocated by Lost. Shaking their head, Kyo cleared those dreams and went out. 

They were planning on checking up on Io, but when they walked towards her bed, they heard papers rustling. Kyo turned and saw that the man was at the desk.

‘He- did he not rest at all?’ 

Staying up all night, for what reason did he feel the need to do so? 

Sensing eyes on him the man looked up and saw Kyo staring at him.

“Ah, you’re awake.” 

“Yes…” Kyo didn’t respond any further, so he continued. “I’ve looked into your blood and found something surprising. Tell me, do you know of blood codes?”

Kyo fell silent. 

“No.” They answered. “I don’t.” 

The man nodded.

“I see. Blood codes are blood types of revenants.” He explained. “These blood types greatly affect a revenant’s abilities.” He looked straight into Kyo’s eyes.

“However, your blood has no specific type, no. It would be better to say that your type is broken.” Kyo was stunned. All of that from just one vial of blood? But what mattered...

“...Broken?” They asked. He nodded again.

“Yes, broken.” He continued. “Your abilities- and the fact that you have no specific type- might be due to you being what we call a “void type.” You have other fragments of blood codes in your blood and I believe that you gained one from that Lost we fought yesterday. This phenomenon of gaining blood codes is unique to void-types”

“... Void-type, huh.” Kyo digested the information, before looking back at the man. “Is… there anyone else like me?”

He shook his head.

“As of right now, no. However, there have been reports of people like you, so there might be someone around here with it.”

“I see.” Kyo fell into deep thought. 

‘Blood codes affects the revenant’s abilities. So, if those two are linked like that… does that mean my lost memories are related to my blood code being broken or... is it because I died my memories and blood code was destroyed?’ 

Kyo sighed.

‘I really am...’

The man spoke up, interrupting Kyo’s thoughts.

“If you are a void-type, there’s an experiment I’d like to do.” Kyo frowned.

“Experiment?” That word brought up some... negative feelings.

“Yes,” he said pulling out a knife. “Don’t worry, you’ll get something out of it.”

“What are you…?!” Kyo watched as he placed the blade on his palm.

“I’m going to give you some of my blood,” he said, as calm as if he was stating the weather. “If my theory is correct, it should act as a medium and give my power to you.” He turned his eyes to the knife.

“Well, here goes…”

“Wai-” 

He quickly, but carefully cut his hand open. Stunned, Kyo could only watch as he offered his bleeding wound to them.

“...You…” Kyo wanted to say more but they weren’t certain on what they could say. 

After a moment they slowly grabbed his hand and brought it to their mouth. The smell of blood was… enticing, their throat dried up. They felt their fangs sharpen and the instinct to bite deepen. Kyo resisted the urge to bite, _to eat and drink_, and instead lowered their mouth and sucked on his wound.

Nothing happened at first, but slowly a cold feeling enveloped them as they drank. They stopped drinking and stepped away from the man, placing a hand out to steady themself. Slowly, their body began to heat up and along with that heat came a bit of dizziness. 

Only after did the dizziness subside is when they opened their eyes.

They see that he… Louis was wrapping up his wound. Louis glanced up and, seeing as they were alright, stood up and walked over to give them a cloth.

“You have blood on your face.” Was all he said. Kyo took it without a word, noticing that it was slightly damp. 

...Did he prepare for this?

Kyo wiped the blood off their face and Louis took the cloth, placing it on his desk.

“Follow me.” He said, walking towards the door. Kyo followed and noticed that there was a training dummy, right beside the door.

Louis stood in front of the dummy, his hand glowed and fired a projectile at it. The dummy caught on fire, however it quickly flickered out. Louis turned to Kyo.

“Can you do this?” He asked. Kyo glanced at the dummy. The projectile he fired was different from the one that they had been used to. But… if he was right…

Kyo closed their eyes. 

‘Fragments, he said. Fragments…’

Inside them, they could sense something new among all the others… they brought it to the forefront, allowing it to spread through them warming their body and…

Kyo snapped open their eyes; they focused like they would fire their normal projectile and threw what they had in their hands at the dummy. They watched as it caught on fire glowing a bright red. The fire fades quickly, it’s fuel of blood, gone.

“Well, that proves it then.” Louis stated looking at them. Kyo was about to ask him some more questions when-

“Oh, Louis! What are you doing?” Louis turned.

“Ah Murasame you’re awake. Coco, you too.” 

Kyo turned and saw that two people were carrying boxes, among some other things, around.

“Are you two stocking up right now?”

“Yup, just a bit longer and I'll be ready to go.” The one called Murasame said. Louis nodded and turned back towards Kyo.

“How’s your hand?” He asked looking downwards towards something.

“?” Kyo followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at their hand that was still wrapped up in gauze.

“...It’s fine.” He nodded. 

“When you want, you should go visit Murasame and Coco, their services will be useful to you.” With that he turned around and left to what Kyo assumed would be his room.

Kyo glanced over at Murasame and Coco. They were still busy, so Kyo didn’t want to bother them. Looking away, Kyo noticed that Io was stirring from her sleep.

They walked over to her as she fluttered her eyes awake. She sat up once she saw them. They both stared at each other not saying anything.

“Did you sleep well?” Kyo decided to break the silence first. 

“...” Io stared at them before nodding. 

“And… what of you?” Kyo stayed silent.

“I slept fine.” They answered. Io nodded before looking down. A glimpse of surprise flashed across her face as she grabbed their arm, bringing it to her. 

“You… were injured.” She stated, looking at their bandaged hand. “Who did this?”

Kyo didn’t really know how to respond. 

...Ah, that’s right. She fell asleep and didn't see Louis cut their hand… How should they...? 

“I just cut myself, don’t worry.” Io stared up at them eyes blank… before ripping the gauze off their wound.

“!” Kyo inadvertently clenched their hand, waiting for blood to seep through their fingers however, their fingers touched smooth skin instead. Stunned, Kyo slowly opened their hand for the both of them to see their palm.

It was unmarked, the cut that happened early in the night was gone. Kyo glanced over to the gauze that Io was holding and saw that it was stained with blood, showing that there had indeed been a wound. Io let go of their arm, her fingers tracing their palm.

“You’re... Alright…” She stated, still looking over their palm. Kyo let her, opting to look over at her other hand that was holding the gauze. She was still clutching it tightly with her other hand. Kyo reached over to grab it only for her to move her hand away, her other hand still gripping theirs. 

“...” Kyo tried again and she moved her hand away. “...Io, please give that to me, it’s dirty.”

“Who did it?” She asked, looking up at them.

“... I just cut myself, don’t worry. Please, just give it to me.” Kyo reached out again. They thought about telling her, but right now the situation they were in was full of uncertainty and they didn’t want anything to happen. She moved away again.

“Who did it?” She asked again.

“...” Why does she care so much? As Kyo was standing there, uncertain at what they should do someone walked up behind them.

“Hello~! How did you enjoy your stay here?” They both turned to see the young girl, Murasame, Louis called her, talking to them. They both stayed silent.

“It was fine.” Kyo answered. Murasame nodded.

“That's good. Oh! My name’s Rin Murasame!” She gestured to herself. 

“Louis must have brought you here for a reason, so I’ll tell you what I do here.” She places her hands on her hips and puffs up her chest. “I provide weapons here and maintain it, for a price of course.”

“Weapons?” At the mention of weapons, Io’s grip slackened as she looked towards Murasame with interest. Taking the chance, Kyo reached over and plucked the gauze out of her hands. 

“Oh, uh. Yup!” Murasame seemed to be confused as to what was happening, but she continued on with a smile. “If you want, I can show you some weapons to see which one you need.” Io looked at her, silent. 

“She cannot fight,” Kyo stated for her. “If you want to show her some weapons, that’s fine, but please be careful.” Murasame looked shocked, waving her hands around in a flurry.

“O-oh, I’m so sorry.” Kyo glanced over at Io, but she said nothing.

“I don’t think she minds.” They said. Murasame let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, that's good.” She perked up, smiling at the both of them.

“Alright then! If you need me, I’ll be over there-” She gestures to a large safe. “Make yourselves at home!” With a wave she walked away leaving the two of them. Io once again had tightened her grip on their sleeve, but they were not going to give her the gauze back; however they didn’t want to hurt her so they just sat down on the bed beside her, hoping that she would lose interest in the subject.

…

…

…

...She did not. She remained steadfast in keeping her grip and staring at them for some amount of time.

“Do you want to go to the porch?” Hopefully a change of scenery and interest would calm her down. She didn’t answer. Kyo slowly stood up and she followed still gripping onto their sleeve. Seeing as she didn’t mind, Kyo led them to the table near the curtains out on the porch. She still didn’t let go, so Kyo had no choice but to move the chairs closer together so they could sit somewhat more comfortably.

They both sat down, Kyo putting the gauze into their pocket away from her, but she was still holding onto their sleeve. Kyo sighed.

‘She is rather determined.’ 

With nothing else to do, Kyo moved their gaze out towards the scenery. Looking at it during the sunrise, didn’t make the view any more pleasant. The buildings and thorns captured their attention, but the glaring, obvious thing that truly made this place seem like a prison was that ominous red wall.

No matter how much Kyo thought about it, it still gave them a sense of unease. 

Why was that? While they have lost all of their memories, it seems their body remembers something. Unfortunately… remembering or trying to remember caused them pain. Pain and exhaustion. 

Perhaps it was because they had just revived, but they have been feeling sluggish. After the adrenaline rush that was yesterday, they felt… tired. So very tired. Sleeping helped, but not much. 

Not only that… their void type blood code seems to also be affecting them. Besides not allowing them to rest, it seems that their void type also allows the other blood codes that they have gained to at times overwhelm them... Louis said that the vestiges devour revenants, turning them into Lost. Perhaps that is what they were experiencing, albeit on a smaller scale. 

They felt their eyes droop. Damnit, looks like their body was exhausted from what happened earlier. They tried to keep their eyes open but-

“Sleep…” They heard and felt a hand run through their hair…

* * *

Louis woke up from his nap on his bed. He got up, a small frown on his face. Hopefully, he didn’t sleep for too long, he still had to get things ready for an exploration. Speaking of which, he wonders how their new member was doing. Hopefully they were integrating well here. He left his room, planning on looking over the map where they should head to.

As he reached the living area, he noticed Yakumo sitting and staring out towards the porch. 

“What is it?” He asked. Normally Yakumo wouldn’t even be here, instead he would be talking to Murasame about weapons or would normally be at the bar.

“Those two,” he started, gesturing with his head, “have been there for a while now.” 

Louis looked over and saw Kyo and Io resting outside. He furrowed his brows, rushing over towards them. His footsteps didn’t stir either of them as he reached them.

Looking over them, he saw that Kyo and Io seemed to be fine. However, looking closer, he saw that Kyo’s eyes were shut tightly, their brows furrowed. Io on the other hand, seemed to be just resting as she leaned on Kyo.

He leaned over Kyo, trying to see if there was something wrong with them. Besides their tense posture, there was nothing else that he could gleam from them. He frowned. He was sure that when he left, they had been fine. No, when they had taken his blood, they seemed a bit ill, but he had hoped it was something in passing. Was he the cause then? 

He was about to wake Kyo up to ask them about their symptoms when a flash of yellow distracted him. He looked over and saw Io looking up at him. He stilled as her blank gaze looked him over. He saw her trail her eyes downward, stopping at something.

“Where you hurt?” She asked. Louis looked down and saw she was looking at his bandaged hand. “Who did it?”

“...I just cut myself.” He stated. She still stared up at him eyes flickering downwards towards his hand before her gaze fully settled onto him. 

“You’re… not lying…?” She said. Louis didn’t understand what she meant by that.

“No, I’m not.” He said. Io continued to stare at him and his hand. Slowly she turned her gaze to Kyo.

“No one here… could hurt you, right?” She asked him. He nodded in affirmation.

“That’s right.” She went quiet.

“... Did you hurt them?” She whispered glancing back up at him. Louis was taken aback by the sudden question.

“What-?”

“Did. you. hurt. them?” She asked again. She was sitting upright, pulling Kyo towards her and enveloping them in a protective embrace. His sister’s face looking at him with an accusatory gaze. Louis looked down and saw that she was holding Kyo’s hand… the hand that he drew blood from. Ah, that’s what she wanted to know.

“...Yes.” He said in the end. She tightened her grip on Kyo.

“Why?” She was still speaking softly, her face blank, but he could tell that she was angry.

“...” What could he say really? He did it as an experiment to see if they were a void type? To see what Kyo was capable of? If he said that, would that anger her more? Would she then urge them to leave? At first he wasn’t too worried. He was relying on her presence to keep Kyo here, but if she also wants to leave… what would happen then? What could he do then?

“What’s going on here?” He heard someone say. He looked over to see Yakumo coming up from behind them. At his arrival Io tightened her grip on Kyo even more and was frowning.

Perhaps, Kyo could sense what was going on as their brows furrowed even more, they were also becoming more tense, more distressed. And yet... they didn’t wake up.

“Please, let me look over them. I think they’re unwell.” He reached out to Kyo, but Io pushed herself in front of them, to hide them from him.

“No.”

“Listen, he’s not going to hurt them.” He heard Yakumo say. Unfortunately, he already did.

“Liar.” Was all she said. Yakumo bristled. 

“Hey!” He leaned forward towards Io, his massive size dwarfing Io’s. But she did not move nor flinch and looked up at Yakumo with a steady gaze. Louis frowned. This was getting out of hand.

“Yakumo, stop.” He needs to diffuse the situation. First, he’ll have to deal with Yakumo, get him to calm down, and maybe move him away. That should calm Io down then and maybe she’ll be more willing to listen.

“What! Why?” However, Yakumo seems to be unwilling as of now.

“Yakumo!” He did not have time for this, he needs to make sure a fight doesn’t break out. Io couldn’t fight, but if Kyo wakes up…

Unfortunately, it seems he made things worse. Io had jumped up, and was fully standing in front of them, still cradling Kyo. In the end, this actually seemed to stir them awake.

“What is-?” Kyo started to say. They pulled away from Io, a pained look on their face. Louis moved towards them to help, but Io blocked him once again.

“Are you alright?” She said as she turned towards them.

“I’m fine.” They said, despite their sickly complexion. “What’s going on here?” Io turned her gaze back to Louis.

“He hurt you.” Yakumo stepped in front of Louis, looking directly at her.

“Hey, listen. Louis wouldn’t-!” Louis leveled a stern glare at Yakumo.

“Yakumo, enough.” He could see that Yakumo was surprised, but he stopped. Kyo meanwhile was looking everyone over, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

“...I see.” They said. They turned to Louis and Yakumo. “I’ll ask you both to leave then. Right now, the both of you are making her nervous.”

“I understand.” Louis said before Yakumo could jump in. He turned towards Yakumo. “Let’s go.” 

He walked away and he heard Yakumo follow. He sighed, today was already starting off bad.

* * *

Kyo watched as the two of them left. After making sure that they were out of earshot they turned back towards Io.

“What happened?” They asked her.

“He hurt you.” Was all she said. Kyo looked her over. After the two left, she seemed much more calm. They sighed. 

“Here, sit down.” She did so, looking towards them as if the argument hadn’t happened. Kyo leaned back to ground themself. They didn’t dream of anything, but their body felt unusually warm and it was making them a bit lightheaded. 

“Can you tell me what happened here?” They asked. Even if they were feeling unwell, they couldn’t just let this situation get worse.

“He approached you.” Io said. Kyo raised a brow.

“What was he planning to do?” Io stayed silent.

“I don’t know.” She said in the end.

“Then, why were you scared.” What made her so frantic in Louis presence, that even him approaching them caused her great worry?

“He hurt you.” Kyo paused. She seemed-no she is certain that Louis had hurt them.

“Why do you think that?”

“He told me.” Kyo looked at her. She had said it so quickly, they were sure she wasn’t lying… but why would he tell her? Why did he feel the need to? As far as Louis knew, Kyo and Io were complete strangers to one another. Io had a strong attachment to them and Kyo did try to save her from the slave owners, but they had no memory of each other. Nothing that showed how they were connected to each other.

“I see.” Was all they said in the end. They both fell silent. Kyo looked over at Io again and saw that she was still looking at them. Waiting for… something.

“Are you angry with me?” They asked. Here, Kyo could see a look of befuddlement flash across her face. 

“For what?” She asked.

“Lying to you.” Kyo stared at her. Her face remained blank, as such it was hard to read, but...

“No.” She answered. She seemed to be telling the truth.

“...But?” Even if she wasn’t angry… She seemed displeased… anxious about something. It would be better to address it now. She remained still, guarding herself. Kyo didn’t say anything, merely sitting there. Io remained seated as well, but her anxiousness grew to where Kyo could actually see her start to fidget. She looked down, peeking her eyes through her hair.

“...I… do not want to be clueless, when something happens to you.” She eventually said.

“... I...understand” Was all Kyo could say. Was that all there was to it? Did them lying about a cut really made her worry that much? Once again Kyo couldn’t help wonder who they were to her that she would care so much about them. 

“Alright then, I won’t do that again.” When they said that, Io looked over at them, with a small glimmer of surprise. However, Kyo could swear that they could see a bit of happiness in those eyes.

“...” She didn’t say anything, but Kyo saw that after they had promised her, she finally relaxed. Everything fell into silence again. Kyo would like nothing more then to relax, but Io’s opinion on Louis...

“Io.” She turned to them.

“What is it?”

“Why do you think he hurt me?” Io was stunned at the question. She stayed silent before lowering her head.

“I don’t know.” She admitted. Kyo didn’t blame her, even they were suspicious of him at first. 

“I think that he was curious about me,” they stated, “but in the end it helped me.” She glanced over, a questioning look on her face.

“Helped… you?” Kyo nodded.

“Yes.” Kyo could actually see her furrow her eyebrows.

“By hurting you?”

“He wanted to inspect at my blood.” Kyo explained.

“Your blood...yes.” Realization dawned on her and she looked at them with something akin to adoration. “You are... truly unique.”

Kyo was stunned. She had said that so confidently, so passionately. Maybe...

“Io… do you know anything else about me? About my powers?” The adoration slowly slipped from her face, going blank again as she looked down.

“... No.”

“I see.” Silence fell once again. It seems that they both do that to much. Kyo shifted in their seat.

“Do you want me to stay here-for a bit?” They asked, in case she was still nervous.

“?” A mere tilt of her head was all she did.

“I’ll have to speak to them.” To hopefully put this little debacle behind them. If not… Io stood, placing a hand on their forehead.

“You are unwell.” She said, soft yet stern.

“... I know.” But they can’t rest. They moved to stand, Io moving aside. She gazed at them, with a strong intent in her glassy eyes.

“...I will try not to inconvenience you again.” Kyo sighed.

“You didn’t inconvenience me.” They said, standing. The world spun and they reached out to steady themself. They could see that Io had stepped forward to catch them, had they fallen.

“It was my fault for not telling you.” As such, they should be the one to go.

“...”

* * *

“What the hell was that?” Louis glanced over at Yakumo. At least he had waited a while before demanding answers. Yakumo was one who couldn’t stand still for too long, and he hated being left unknowing. They had moved to the bar, where he was hopefully far away enough for Io to feel safe, and for Kyo to calm her down. 

“I was trying to make sure you didn’t escalate things.” Louis stated. He frowned, remembering that Yakumo was acting rather stubborn when he was telling him to stop yelling. Yakumo bristled. 

“Esca- escalate?! She was accusing you of hurting them!”

“And I did.” Yakumo froze at his answer.

“Wha-wha-?” 

“It was a cut on their hand that she was referring to. It healed, however it seems that she saw it before it did.” Yakumo was frowning.

“...Why did you do that?”

“It was an experiment; their blood, I needed to see if I could find out anything about it.”

Yakumo went silent as he processed the information. With nothing left to discuss Louis also went silent. 

Footsteps echoed behind them. They both turned to see Kyo, still looking pale. Louis stood walking over to get a better look at them.

“You should rest.” Kyo shook their head.

“I’m… well I’m not fine, but I think that it’ll be better if I move around a bit then rest.” Louis nodded.

“That aside, I’m here to apologize to you both.” Louis blinked, stunned. He could hear Yakumo make a noise behind. 

“I didn’t tell her how or why I received that cut, leading to the confrontation. I apologize for my behavior.” Louis shook his head.

“No, if anything I should apologize.” Kyo frowned.

“For what?”

“I am the reason the confrontation started; not only that I have made you unwell, she had every right to be concerned.” Kyo narrowed their eyes at him letting out a small huff.

“You took my blood, but I gave you permission for that. Io is my companion, I’m the one who failed to take into account her reaction to this. Forgive me, but I don’t see how you were involved in my decision making.” Louis heard Yakumo snort behind him, but decided to ignore that.

“Nonetheless, it is my fault that you both had such trouble here. For that I apologize.” A fatigued look flashed across Kyo’s face. Louis frowned at the sight. 

“You seem tired, are you sure you do not need to rest?” Kyo looked at him, before letting out a small sigh

“Like I said, I think that would make things worse as of now.” Louis couldn’t do anything but relent.

“I see. If you feel unwell please go get some rest.” Kyo stepped back with a nod and walked away. Louis kept his eye on them to make sure that they didn’t fall as the headed back to Io. Once they were safely back, Louis moved towards his desk. The confrontation with Io had distracted him, but now that that has been resolved he can go back to planning exploration routes.

* * *

After talking with Louis, Kyo spent the rest of the day wandering around his base. Io tried to follow at times. Unfortunately, she was also exhausted and Kyo would go tuck her back in. Io didn’t seem to have the same problems they did, so hopefully with some rest she’ll feel better.

Their exploration seems to have drawn a bit of attention. Besides the red-haired man who seems to always be there when they happen to turn around…

“You’re a new face. Has Louis stuck his head in another pot of trouble?” She asked. The blond woman seemed to be keeping an eye on them too.

“Probably.” Was all they said. Being truthful, two amnesiacs are somewhat concerning to take in for no reason. Hopefully, Louis didn’t say anything about their powers... She stayed silent, eyeing them.

“Well, it’s none of my business, really.” She turned her head away appearing disinterested. None of her business, huh. Even though she was the one to interact with them. Kyo moved to walk away when she turned back towards them.

“I’m Coco, a merchant. Stop by if you need anything.” Kyo had a lot of questions about that, but right now they were feeling just a bit dizzy and wanted to go sit down. They nodded to show that they had heard her and turned to walk away, again, when…

“Ah, there you are!” Murasame called out to them. “I’ve fixed your stuff, so if you want to take them to your room you’re welcome to do it anytime!”

“Oh. Thank you.” They said. They had turned around too quickly and now was feeling a bit light headed.

“You don’t look well. Um,” Murasame looked around before her eyes landed on someone. “Yakumo! Can you come here and help?” 

Kyo turned to look at the man called Yakumo. He was still frowning, but he got up and walked over.

“Wait right here until I get everything.” Murasame said before she ran inside her shop, leaving the two to stand there in silence. Maybe the wait wouldn’t feel so long had it been someone who Kyo was sure didn’t like them, but they weren’t gonna do anything about that. So they stayed there standing with the man right beside them.

“Alright~! Here’s everything.” Murasame said as she put everything down on the counter. Kyo moved to pick it up, but Yakumo swept everything into his arms.

“What-?”

“I’ll need you to open the door, is that fine?” He said, without batting an eye. Kyo looked at him, before nodding.

“...Alright.” 

The walk towards their room was silent and Kyo didn’t even bother trying to talk to him. When they both reached Kyo’s room, Kyo opened the door and Yakumo wordlessly brought everything in.

“Where do you want these?” He asked.

“Ah, uh.” Kyo looked around the room. “...You can put the weapons in the corner, the blood veil I can put up later.”

Yakumo only let out a small grunt as he placed everything down. With everything all said and done, Kyo really didn’t know what to do.

“Thank-”

“All revenants carry a secret with them.” Yakumo stated. He looked at them right in the eyes. “Don’t do anything funny. I’ll be keeping an eye on you until everything settles down.” 

With nothing else left to say, Yakumo left, leaving Kyo to stand there, puzzled. Staring after Yakumo, Kyo sighed and sat on their bed. They felt a bit better but their body still felt awful. Kyo glanced over at the window. The sun was setting, but since they were already here… Kyo kicked off their shoes and collapse on the mattress. Hopefully, they’ll feel better after tonight.

* * *

“What did you do?” Louis asked. As soon as he saw Yakumo leave with Kyo, he was already on guard.

“Nothing. I just helped put their stuff up.” Louis stared.

“Just that?” Yakumo nodded. Louis… didn’t believe him. He saw how Yakumo tracked Kyo no matter what they were doing; even if it was something mundane as looking over some labels or just moving to get the sun out of their eyes. He understands that they were suspicious, but Yakumo was always too impulsive with his intentions; his earlier spat with Io was proof. Since Yakumo was keeping silent, Louis decided to drop the matter. 

He turned back to the map. There were so many places to revisit so he could collect data and explore; there was also so much that he hadn’t explored. First things first, he’ll have to explore all the areas he knows. 

There were three close by, he’ll start with that. The first two were rather straightforward, but the last… Well, he’ll have to cross that bridge when he gets there. He tried to remember as much as he could, writing everything down, and looking over his past routes, when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“It’s getting late.” Yakumo said. Louis looked outside and saw that it was dark.

“I can stay up longer.” Louis was sure that it wasn’t dark for that long. Yakumo frowned.

“You didn’t sleep much yesterday and you wanna explore tomorrow right? You also have to look after the newbie too.” Louis was silent. Truthfully, he was going to stay up anyway, but he wondered why Yakumo, who was so distrustful, seemed to think that Kyo would help. Yesterday when they were bringing the bed out, Yakumo was adamant that Kyo would’ve just taken advantage of them. He disagreed of course. To call them “newbie” was also unexpected. However, if being out here means being interrupted… 

“Alright.” Was all he said. Louis could see that Yakumo was surprised, but he paid it no heed. Louis walked away. 

As he reached his room he paused. Turning around he walked over towards Kyo’s room and knocked on it softly.

“Kyo?” No answer. He placed his ear to the door. Hearing deep breathing he sighed and stepped away. Looks like they really were exhausted. He hopes tomorrow they’ll be better.

Stepping into his room Louis shut the door and went over to the small cabinet. He picked up his journal and went over it with a critical eye. Anything he had forgotten during the day or some random idea that he had in the middle of the night, he’d write in here. 

Here he had written down routes he hadn’t taken, areas that he couldn’t explore after the miasma spread and odd things that he had noticed. He spent the night looking over them, making sure to memorize everything he could until he fell asleep.

* * *

Kyo woke up when it was still dark out. They didn’t know what time it was, but they got up anyway. 

Another dream, another place that they didn’t know. The sky was above them, but so many ruins. They were running with a group of people fighting Lost. But there was too much. When a Lost was right up on their face, axe right above them, they woke up.

They were wide awake. They had a bit of a headache still, but they felt much better than before. Even then… they were sure that even if they wanted to, they couldn’t go back to sleep right now.

Walking out of their room, they made their way to the living area. There was no one here and Io was still asleep, but they saw that she had kicked her blankets off. They reached down and draped the blanket back over here, watching for any signs that she might wake up. She didn’t and with nothing left to do, Kyo made their way towards the porche to nurse their headache.

Sitting outside their attention was once again drawn towards the red wall. For some reason they always seem to forget it exists, even though they shouldn’t… 

The red wall, their lost memories, and their void blood code… what happened to them?

Speaking of blood codes… they had tried to do what they did earlier with their fragment experiment and found that throughout their body, there seem to be pieces of other blood codes floating through them. It was eerie. 

When they tried to focus in on themself they were all of a sudden _very_ acutely aware of their body and what it was doing. They could feel their heart pump blood, how their muscles twitch and move… they could even tell how their blood flowed throughout them in that state. They didn’t know how that came to be, but because of that they were able to focus on the fragments of others they had absorbed. It had taken some time but gradually they were able to identify them. Besides Oliver and Louis, they identified three other blood codes that were not theirs. It turns out they had been using them and switching them around on instinct… 

The question then is, where the other three blood codes came from. Could it have been someone they knew who had given them their blood? Or did they gain these blood codes in a different way?

Sunlight peeking through the horizon distracted them from their musing. As they watched the sun rise, they heard footsteps behind them. They turned to see Louis approaching with Yakumo following behind. Louis didn’t say anything at first, as he watched light shine on the ruins of the world. Eventually, he turned towards them.

“Come, let’s talk.” Kyo nodded. Seems like this was overdue. Kyo stood and, with Louis guidance, followed him towards the board with the map on the other side of the living space with Yakumo flanking behind. Louis looked over the board before turning towards them.

“Do you remember what we saw in the vestige?” Kyo nodded. In fact, they experienced it, or a part of it at least. Louis continued.

“That kind of stuff happens everyday here. Revenants killing each other for blood beads, capturing others and making them work for them. It has become a way of life.”

“I see.” They know that these things were occurring, but… was it this widespread to say it has become a way of life.

“After the war against the Queen, Silva has taken most of the humans who survived under his protection, so revenants are left to rely on blood beads alone to sake their unending thirst.” This matched up with what they knew. Blood beads appeared after the war so there wasn’t a need for humans that much... but that didn’t make much sense… if everything was fine after the war why would there be a need to take away all the humans? They remember that select revenants received human blood while everyone else hunted for blood beads... Perhaps it was the other way around and humans were taken away before blood beads formed?

“At first... everything seemed fine and everyone was recovering from the war… But… nothing in this world lasts forever.”

Louis turned towards the map and Kyo saw how much he mapped out. From miasma to Lost nests, Kyo could tell that he was serious about his goal; whatever it was. 

“The springs started to dry up and so blood beads grew rarer and rarer; and the order Silva created by levying and distributing blood beads won’t last much longer either.”

“...” So that’s what this Silva is doing. They remember the conversation of the levy, but the distribution of blood beads… If Silva’s government were collecting blood beads who were they distributing them to?

“The world needs blood beads. Only then can we strive for fairness instead of petty favoritism.”

Favoritism? Is that what he thinks is going on? Is Silva is purposefully holding a grip on the blood beads to give them to a select few?

...He could be right, for all they know… but why-why do they feel so wrong by admitting that?

“That’s why we’ve been exploring the Goal of the Mists. We’re doing research to learn all we can about blood beads. But the miasma has been a real problem. It makes our thirst even worse, so our progress has stalled.”

Louis turned to them.

“Now though, we have a glimmer of hope. Your power can clear the miasma. If you can help us…” Louis trailed off.

“Well, you’d be drawn into a bitter conflict…Still, the truth is, we don’t have a lot of hope without you.”

“Will you join us?” A bitter conflict, huh. A part of them wonders with who. Certainly, the government if what he was saying is true. Maybe even other revenants, desperate for blood.

Kyo turned towards the map, marveling at the scale of how much it covered. And within this map so much suffering was going on. They thought of Oliver and, despite how kind he was to them, killed to live and to atone, gave up his life. 

“I’ll join you.” They didn’t want to see anyone else be forced to do any of those things; whether it be killing to live or living with so much guilt that death was preferable. They don’t know why, but the thought of living like that… was unbearable.

“Thank you.” Louis reached out his hand and Kyo did the same. They shook with a firm grip, just like how Oliver taught them.

“So, it’s a done deal?” They heard Yakumo say. He turned towards them with a smile. 

“Well then! From now on, you’re one of us.” Before Kyo had a chance to process his immediate change in attitude, Yakumo threw something. Their body reacted before their thoughts could catch up. In their hand was a fruit… no, not just a fruit, an apple. A hand reached out in their peripheral.

“Name’s Yakumo Shinonome. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in action.” Kyo reached out and shook it.

“My name is Kyo, nice to meet you.” They said. Louis smiled at the sight. He knows that Yakumo would still be a bit suspicious, but hopefully with this he’ll see what type of person Kyo is. His smile quickly faded as there was no time to waste.

“Let’s get right into it. Here’s what’s going on… We’re studying blood beads and their springs. We want to know how and when blood springs appear, their cycles for producing beads, and the composition of the beads themselves.”

Kyo watched as Louis listed on about everything, marveling at what they had accomplished.

“We made a few discoveries. First of all, we’ve found that there are tubes likes capillaries running through the earth.” Louis gestured to the ground. “We call them blood veins. And so far, we can determine, every single bloodspring is located on top of these blood veins. Also… After comparing blood beads and blood veins, we know they’re mostly comprised of the same substances. “

“In other words,” Yakumo said, butting in. “We can safely assume that bloodsprings always form along blood veins. We think that means there must be a source somewhere. A kind of headwaters for the blood beads.”

A source, like a river perhaps? But… no, what would make something similar to human blood?

“Now that we have you around to clear the miasma, we can investigate the springs and follow the blood veins and hopefully, find the source.” Yakumo turned over to Louis. “Right?”

He nodded before turning back to Kyo.

“We want to check out the old city ruins first. Sorry for the rush, but we should head out as soon as you’re ready.” As they were about to reply...

“Ngh.” Everyone’s attention focused towards the bed where the sound came from. 

Kyo walked over as Io’s eyes fluttered open. As soon as she saw Kyo, Io sat up. Blinking away her fatigue.

“Did you rest well?” Io nodded, holding up a hand. Kyo held it immediately. 

“What’s going on?” She asked in her usual dazed way. Kyo looked over at Louis and Yakumo before turning back to her.

“I’ll have to leave soon.” Io sat up straighter when she heard that.

“Leave?” Her grip tightened. Kyo nodded.

“How long?” Kyo frowned and turned towards the other two.

“It shouldn’t be too long.” Louis said. “At most it’ll be a week.” 

Io remained expressionless at the information, but her grip had not loosened. Kyo placed their other hand on top of hers.

“It’ll be alright. I’ll be back.” They squeezed her hand before releasing their grip and Io followed suit with some reluctance. Standing up Kyo turned towards the other two.

“I’ll go get ready now.” Louis nodded and Kyo made their way to their room.

Walking inside they stopped. They closed the door as they looked at the hammer.

‘Oliver…’ 

They glanced over at a bag in the corner of the room. They walked over it and opened it to find the military vest…

...

When Oliver was teaching them how to use the hound blood veil, he informed them that the military vest they were wearing was also a blood veil. But since they had forgotten Oliver said that maybe using the new one would help them. Oliver didn’t like the one-handed blood veils, ogre veils, he called them. As such, he didn’t know how to teach them. They switched the veils, but they didn’t want to leave their military vest. Oliver had a bag and offered to put it in there for safekeeping…

It was supposed to store blood beads, had they found any. Afterwards… Oliver was holding onto it. They had insisted that they would hold it, but Oliver said that he didn’t want anything holding them back or distracting them. After Oliver… died they took the hammer… but they didn’t take the bag. They had forgotten about it until yesterday, when they saw it in their room. 

So… who had the bag? It was either Io or Louis… but they remembered holding Io’s hand the way here and she had both hands free when they weren’t holding hers. Did Louis pick it up? It was the most likely choice and they really weren’t focused on anything else then following him.

‘I’ll have to thank him.’

The vest was a perfect fit. It wasn’t really a surprise, considering they woke up with it, but they… didn’t think it was _really_ theirs. As they adjusted the vest, they turned their eyes towards the blue blood veil hanging on the back of a chair.

…

It really looked like the one Oliver had. 

They turned their attention back towards the hammer that was resting in the corner. 

Grabbing the blue veil, they hung it on the handle of the hammer. It looked like it would fall off any second so they adjusted it until it was hanging in a way that wouldn’t fall off even if someone slammed the door open.

…

_They watched as the mouths of the metal dogs ripped the Lost in half. After a bit of trial and error they could finally use blood veils. They heard Oliver cheer._

_“There we go! Now you don’t have to worry about the Lost as much!” He held out his hand. Kyo, like before, merely placed their hand in his. He let out a small sigh._

_“I guess you forgot about handshakes too.” Oliver said. His tone sounded… sad, his eyes looking at them in a way they didn’t know how to describe._

_“Handshakes?” Oliver nodded._

_“Yeah. Ok as a gift, I’ll teach you.” Oliver took his hand away and held it out again. _

_“So, I want you to grab it, not too hard, but grab it like you’re holding your sword.” They did so._

_“Great, now I’m gonna grab your hand, so don’t worry.” He gripped their hand, not too tight, but there was a bit of pressure. _

_“Now we shake.” He said as he moved his hand up and down. “Your turn.”_

_Oliver stopped and Kyo moved their hand up and down. It was rather stiff, but Oliver seemed pleased._

_“There we go.” Oliver let out a small laugh as he took his hand away. “Hey, since you know how to do a handshake, let’s try it again.”_

_“Again?” They asked. Try what? Oliver put his hand out and Kyo, following Oliver’s instructions from earlier, gripped his hand. Oliver shook it once. _

_“My name is Oliver Collins, nice to meet you.” Ah, the greeting from before. Right, they can do this. They shook their hand._

_“My name is Kyo, nice to meet you.” They echoed. Oliver’s eyes crinkled and Kyo was glad that he was doing better._

_“Alright, let's work together, partner.” They wonder if he knew that Kyo was smiling beneath their mask._

_“Yes, lets.”_

…

They looked over the veil and hammer. Murasame did a good job of repairing them, there wasn’t even a scratch. They stepped back.

“...I’m leaving now.” They said. The hammer was just as tall as him, wasn’t it... “I… don’t know what’s going to happen but… I want to thank you, for everything.” 

They turned and picked up the sword that was lying beside the hammer.

“Thank you and… goodbye, Oliver.” They couldn’t say those words to him but… they hoped he knew, in the end.

* * *

Louis was the first one ready to go. As he was waiting for Yakumo and Kyo he turned his gaze over towards Io. She was staring at him and it was, frankly, unnerving. 

“What is it?” He asked her. She stayed silent. He’s seen how Kyo interacts with her and knows that Io often takes some time before she speaks. He didn’t mind, though, he hopes she says something before they leave.

“Why,” she started. Louis turned his attention back to her. “Why did they go and talk to you?”

“I was informing them of what we are doing and requested their help.” Louis replied readily. 

“No.” Io said. “Not that. Before.”

“Before?” Louis could think of only one other instance that Kyo had to go talk to him with Io knowing. “Do you mean yesterday?”

Io nodded. 

“They went to apologize.” He said. “They shouldn’t have but they did.”

Io tilted her head.

“Apologize? For what?” Louis stayed silent, unsure on how he should proceed. 

“They apologized for something that they did, that they think was bad.” He said in the end. He didn’t know how to explain that Kyo was apologizing for her, much less how Kyo would react when they find out he told her.

“For something they did that was… bad?” Louis nodded.

“What did they do that was bad?” Louis fell silent. 

“You’ll have to ask them.” Was all he said. Io went back to staring at him. 

“What they did… why was it bad?” She asked.

“Why was it bad?” Louis echoed. This was somewhat difficult for him. He ran over many sentences in his head, wondering which one would be satisfactory for her. 

“They thought that what they did hurt me.” He said in the end. 

“What they did hurt you… and that was bad. So, they apologized.” Io concluded. Louis nodded.

“Yes.”

Silence permeated the room. Louis was wondering what was taking Kyo and Yakumo so long when Io turned over towards him again.

“Then… I want to apologize. To you.” Louis spun back over to her.

“Me?” Io nodded.

“Yes,” she spoke, voice softer. “I was angry at you. I hurt you.” 

Louis shook his head.

“No, it’s my fault, I hurt Kyo. You had every right to be angry at me. So, you don’t need to apologize.” Io furrowed her brows.

“But…” 

“It’s alright,” he reassured her. “You don’t have to apologize.”

Io went back to staring at him. However, he was saved from being asked more questions as he heard footsteps. Kyo and Yakumo were standing there looking at the two with a questioning expression.

“Right, then let’s go.” Louis said. 

“You really leaving without stocking up?” A voice said. Behind Kyo and Yakumo Coco walk forward. 

“Well, I don’t think I’ll need anything.” Yakumo said. Kyo stayed silent. “What about you, Louis?”

“No, I don’t need any…” His voice trailed off. He looked over at Kyo and Io.

“No, I’ll have to place an order for something. Could you two wait outside?” He asked. Yakumo nodded.

“Come on.” He gestured to Kyo as he walked away. Kyo turned to look at him with a questioning look before following Yakumo.

“Over here.” He walked away from Io’s eyes. Coco, with her impassive face followed.

“What’s with the secrecy?”

“I’ll have to ask you to do something, when you’re traveling.”

* * *

Kyo was silent as they traveled towards the ruins. After Louis had finished his business with Coco they had set out. Yakumo had tried to ask him a question about what he was talking to Coco with, but Louis stated that it was nothing worrying and so the trek towards the ruins was silent.

The scenery was familiar, and it was then Kyo realized that they were going back to the area where they had traveled with Louis before… where Oliver…

…

So that was where the city ruins were, huh. They… shouldn’t have been so surprised, they frankly were in a glorified cage, but they didn’t expect that they would go back there so soon. 

When they reached that familiar clearing, Kyo stopped. There, on the ground, was the dried up mistle. The one where the slave owner was kicking as the miasma was thick.

“Do you want me to…” They turned over to Louis. He shook his head.

“No, it's too out in the open.” He walked forward turning back to Kyo.

“Here, it’s this way.”

Wasting no time Louis gestured towards a corridor with stairs that led them down underground. It was rather interesting that despite how vacant it was, light from lanterns lit the way. It was the complete opposite from the caves.

“Over here.” Following Louis’ guidance, they made their way through the tunnels. 

There was no Lost. Perhaps they should’ve been glad, but this unnerved them instead. Why was it that these two areas, in such close proximity, had vastly different environments?

At the split of the tunnel something caught their eye. A body in white armor. They shouldn’t have but they walked towards it, seeing as it didn’t look like a Lost. Could it be “sleeping?” It made no movement however, by its hand… Kyo picked it up.

It was a map. They didn’t know where it was leading to, but it seemed to be important. Unlike the body, the piece of paper was intact and almost free from stains and other blemishes. 

“What is it?” Seems they took too long. Louis and Yakumo had come over to investigate. Kyo in response showed them the map.Louis looked it over.

“A map of the depths. Davis would be very interested.”

“Davis?” They haven’t heard that name before.

“He’s a buddy of ours. He comes and goes all the time, so don’t worry, you’ll see him.” Yakumo said. Kyo nodded and held out the map towards the duo. Waiting for them to take it. The leader gets the spoils, right?

“Ah, you don’t need to do that.” Louis said. “People who find depths maps get the rewards, so you can keep it.” 

Kyo frowned beneath their mask.

“But…”

“It’s fine, trust Louis on this.” Kyo had no choice but to relent. With the matter of the ownership solved they walked forward in silence. The tunnels looked the same and they took so many turns that Kyo wasn’t sure where they were going. Luckily the tunnel never truly split and in the end-

“It’s this way. Are you ready?” They reached their destination. A mistle lying at the bottom of the stairs. Louis and Yakumo stood next to it, watching them. Fear bubbled underneath their calm exterior. A part of them wondered what would happen if they don’t manage to revive the mistle. Nonetheless, they couldn’t just stand there. 

They walked forward. Piercing their hand with their nails, they dripped blood onto the dead plant and watched it spring back to life, its pale glow shining a soothing blue.

“That’s something.” Louis whispered in awe. Yakumo chuckled unable to hide his amazement.

“Expectations exceeded.” Kyo took off their mask to test the legitimacy of the mistle’s revival, the other two followed suit. There was no pain, no deep thirst, no inability to breath. It was successful.

“That settles it.” Louis turned towards Kyo. “You are absolutely vital to our operation.” 

He stepped closer towards them.

“There are more bloodsprings ahead, but the miasma is blocking the way forward. Do you think you can clear it for us again?” He held out his hand. Kyo reached out without hesitation and grabbed his hand, solidifying their alliance.

“Of course.” 

“Thank you.” They both released their grip. “We know where two springs are located thanks to past expeditions. Let’s go have a look at them.”

They all put their masks back on.

“The area up ahead is teeming with Lost.” Yakumo said. “Watch yourself.”

The area above ground proved to be even more desolate and ruined than they thought. The Thorns of Judgement, as Louis called them, were everywhere here. Big or small the thorns rose from the ground, puncturing anything it could. Louis and Yakumo walked forward in silence. It wasn’t surprising, since they’ve been here before, no doubt that they would be used to it; but to Kyo this was all new. They didn’t look around much as they were afraid of being a liability.

“Careful. Up ahead.” Louis stopped and pointed towards a pathway formed by the thorns. There they could see several Lost patrolling the area.

“This isn’t good. We can’t fight well in cramped spaces.” They both turned to Kyo. 

“Since you’re new, let us handle this part, ok?” Kyo looked over at Yakumo and nodded. They had experience fighting the Lost, but they had also just recovered from being ill. Not only that, this new terrain, they weren’t sure that they couldn’t be anything else but a liability.

“Thank you and sorry.” Yakumo snorted.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re in this together. Let us help you out.” Louis nodded.

“I’m the one who asked you to join us, let me help until you can find your bearings.” Kyo felt troubled, but they both had a point.

“Alright, I’m counting on you.”

They walked forward in a single file line so that they wouldn’t take up too much space. Kyo was walking behind the other two when the first Lost jumped forward. Luckily, they were still in a somewhat open area, so Louis dispatched it with ease. Another one lunged forward but Yakumo easily cut it in half.

“Louis.”

“Yeah, I know.” Up ahead, it was much more cramped, rubble looking like it would topple over any second. “We’ll have to be careful.”

Almost immediately they had trouble. A Lost had seen them.

“Watch out!” Instead of rushing towards them in close range the Lost threw what appeared to be a grenade at them. They all scattered, with Louis and Yakumo rushing towards the Lost to quickly deal with it, but…

“Agh!”

“Kyo!” Another Lost rushed up from the other side and lunged at Kyo. They managed to block its attack but the momentum pushed Kyo back until they were up against the rubble. Kyo could see the Lost’s face and before they could do anything it sunk its teeth into their shoulder.

“Damn!” They were too close to swing their sword at it, much less attack without harming themself. Without any other choice they reached up their other arm to grab a piece of rubble for balance, curled their legs in and kicked forward. The Lost was forced back enough that Louis and Yakumo, who had just finished killing the other one, managed to deal with it without bringing Kyo anymore harm.

“Are you alright!” Louis rushed forward after the Lost was disposed of, looking over Kyo with frantic movements.

“I’m fine.” They said, hoping to reassure him enough to calm him down.

“Here,” Yakumo walked up towards them. “Let me see that.”

With the two of them hovering over them, Kyo let them inspect their shoulder.

“That’s a deep bite.” Yakumo said. It had managed to pierce through cloth and sink its teeth into flesh.

“Can you regenerate?” Louis asked, looking them over again. They personally didn’t think the wound was deep enough to force their body to heal itself that quickly. However, under worried eyes Kyo bought a hand up to their wounded shoulder.

They closed their eyes. With a little push Kyo managed to force their cells to multiply to heal muscle and tissue, knit their skin back together, and direct blood to flow towards the area so that Kyo could use their arm without feeling sore or numb.

Once the duo saw that they healed just fine, they relaxed.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault that you were hurt.” Louis said immediately after.

“I don’t think you had much control over the situation, it’s fine.” Kyo said.

“Still, I said that I would help you and I let you get hurt.” He was relentless, wasn’t he...

“I don’t think you could avoid that in this situation.” Kyo didn’t really know what to do. Accepting his apology would mean that they admit that Louis had done something wrong and, quite frankly, he didn’t. As Louis opened his mouth, to probably apologize again, Yakumo sighed and slapped a hand on Louis’ shoulder.

“If you feel sorry why don’t you focus on the Lost first and get them somewhere safe?” 

“Yes, there should be a mistle up ahead, let’s hurry there.” With a short-range goal in mind, Louis immediately directed his attention towards it.

“Sometimes when he gets like this, it’s better to wait until he tires himself out before talking to him.” Yakumo whispered to them. Kyo just nodded.

They were still in cramped spaces, however there was no roundabout to surprise them. With that, everything became much simpler to deal with. Kyo still stayed in the back as Yakumo and Louis took care of the Lost that tried to sneak attack them.

“That should be the parking garage up ahead.” Kyo looked on at the rubble. The only major difference that Kyo could see compared to the other buildings was that it was more spaced out. Everything else looked as broken down as the others. 

“Well,” Yakumo stretched, rolling his shoulders. “At least we’re out of those cramped spaces.”

“Yes, but there’s still the issue of Lost hiding behind the vehicles.” 

“Nothing we can’t take care of.”

The parking garage was similar to how they dealt with the earlier Lost. The area was cramped, but not as much so Yakumo and Louis easily dealt with everything. 

“What is that?” Kyo tilted their head. A series of thuds sounded out. It wasn’t quiet per se, but they needed to stop in order to hear it. Yakumo and Louis stilled as they both listened.

“Must be a big one.” Yakumo turned to Louis waiting for his cue.

“Yeah. Kyo, stay here while we go check.” Kyo nodded. They watched as the duo went around the corner. It was silent for a moment before Kyo heard an enraged roar. The thuds grew louder and Kyo could feel the tremors from it. They couldn’t see what was happening, but they could hear the sounds of fighting.

Yakumo was yelling. Louis on the other hand, was giving out commands. They heard something heavy hit the floor. This repeated a few more times before it went silent. Kyo thought that they had finished off whatever it was when they heard the both of them yell.

In the opening a huge body slammed through. It was big and resembled a woman however it had things growing out of its back and was wielding a large hammer. It looked at them with empty eyes as it roared, trying to crawl towards them. Kyo immediately flung a projectile of blood towards it to stop it in its tracks. It let out an enraged screech as it was hit. It was cramped and Kyo really didn’t want to fight like this. Luckily, Kyo saw it get impaled by a sword through the chest. It let out a defeated groan as it dispelled, hand reaching out towards them.

“Man, you would not think that something that big could move so quickly.” Yakumo heaved his sword up onto his shoulder. “You ok?”

Kyo nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?” Louis said, walking up. 

“Yes, I was just surprised.” Louis looked them over before nodding his head.

“Alright.” He turned away. “Let’s go, a mistle should be close by.”

They all walked on and as they were descending the slope, Kyo could see the mistle.

“Oh, it’s over there.” There didn’t seem to be any Lost around nor were there any “dead” bodies. Kyo walked ahead to revitalize the mistle when a familiar scent stopped them in their tracks.

Their fangs lengthened; their throat dried up.

This is…

“Hey, what is it? You oka-!” Yakumo seemed to have smelled it too. “Louis, you smell that?”

“Yeah.” Louis walked ahead to a red stain on the ground and knelt down. “Human blood… An escapee?"

“Hey, what the hell are you doing here?” An irritable voice rang out. A revenant with red hair stepped up towards them. Louis stood up, glowering at the other revenant.

“None of your business.” He said. That made the other one mad. He rushed up towards Louis. 

“Oh really? Then tell me this, why would scum like you have the smell of a human on you?!” Puncturing his words with violent body motions the revenant focused only on Louis.

He didn’t say anything to the other. The revenant stepped back. 

“That girl belongs to us. Put your paws on our property and you’re ash. That clear?” 

With that threat he shouldered Louis away. He didn’t say a word to Yakumo or Kyo as he walked on by and jumped off. 

Yakumo hissed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Fresh blood is some powerful stuff.” He turned to Kyo. “You hanging in there?”

They nodded. Their body had reacted, but it was controllable. Yakumo turned to Louis after seeing that Kyo was alright.

“So, what’s the plan now? We know it’s just a matter of time until they find the missing human.” Louis walked on to where the revenant had left.

“You know the plan.” Yakumo followed.

“Okay! Let’s hope she hasn’t been devoured by monsters yet.”

They all quickly jumped down to give chase. They had lost sight of the other revenant and was busy trying to catch up. Unfortunately, the ruins still had many cramped spaces with Lost hidden in them.

“Damn! How the hell did that other guy manage to slip by?” Yakumo cursed as he cut down another Lost.

“It seems he knows this area better than we do. That puts us at a huge disadvantage.” 

Besides the fact that they didn’t know the area well, several strong Lost seemed to be roaming here. A Lost like the one they had seen in the parking garage stood in their way. 

“Tsk, another one?”

“Seems there might be more around, we’d have to get used to it.”

The area here was narrow and Yakumo and Louis had been busy doing most of the work. Kyo stepped up.

“Let me draw its attention while you two attack it from behind.” They both turned to them.

“Are you sure?” Kyo nodded.

“Yeah, after watching you guys, I think I have it down.” Louis nodded.

“Alright, be careful.” 

Kyo walked up to it when it’s back was turned with Louis and Yakumo following behind. Kyo stopped when they were sure that the distance was close enough and fired a blood projectile at its back. It stumbled forward and turned around with enraged eyes. Kyo fired two more as it started charging to keep its attention on them. Once Kyo was sure that it had charged past where Louis and Yakumo were hiding Kyo started moving back. 

The Lost lunged forward forcing Kyo to jump back. Not wasting the opening Louis fired a ball of flame while Yakumo rushed forward. He activated his blood veil and Kyo watched as the metal dogs bit into the Lost’s flesh. However, it was still standing. It turned its eyes back to Kyo but before it could lunge at them again, Louis stabbed it through the chest, causing it to disperse. Louis turned to Kyo.

“Good job.” Kyo sighed.

“I should be saying that to the two of you.” Yakumo walked up to them.

“Come on, we gotta go.”

“Right.”

They all turned the corner but what Kyo saw shocked them.

“What- is that?”

“What?” Kyo pointed to the four-legged creatures. 

“That… that can’t be Lost, are they?” The four-legged creatures were devouring another Lost. “They look nothing… like revenants.”

“And other Lost do?” Yakumo glanced over at them.

“Remember, once someone is Lost, they cannot come back.” Louis stated. “They are taken over completely and only thirst for blood. Whether it be revenants, humans, or their own.”

“...Yes, right. Sorry. Forgive me.” Kyo shook their head. “Sorry for the hold up.”

If Louis or Yakumo wanted to say anything, they both held it in and moved on. Kyo themself didn’t know why they were affected like that. All the Lost they had seen were bipedal and Kyo could see traces of who they once were, even if they had changed completely; but seeing the four-legged creatures had caused such a dissonance. They didn’t look like people, they didn’t even show signs of even being people before… maybe, in the end, a part of them wanted to…

No. No one can come back from the transformation. They… should get used to it.

They all ran forward, killing Lost in an attempt to catch up. Regrettably...

“So, we’re back here, huh.” They circled back to the parking garage. Not only that...

“We have to walk across**_ that_** and fight?” A thorn had pierced through the ground connecting two cliffsides. That in of itself wasn’t an issue, the problem was that the huge Lost was patrolling an already thin walkway. To add to that, there was also two other lost guarding the other side making it more disadvantageous. 

“I can lure it back here.” Kyo said. 

“You sure? I know you can do it; the problem is those guys.” Yakumo pointed to the patrolling Lost. Looking closer it one of them was holding bayonet. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

They were quicker this time; they didn’t have the luxury of being slow unless they wanted to draw the attention of the patrolling Lost. Firing a blood bullet Kyo immediately jumped back to avoid the Lost’s attack. It let out a shriek and started to charge forward. Kyo tried to back up faster but the Lost had the advantage. Before it could strike them however, Kyo jumped back onto solid ground. It was still too far, but Kyo did not want to waste any more time. They stood still waiting until the Lost was charging at them. As soon as it was up on them, hammer ready, Kyo’s body turned light as they dodged the attack. They had reformed behind the Lost. Yakumo and Louis had already leapt out of their hiding spots, but now they could attack the Lost without having to worry about Kyo being in the way.

Kyo’s worries weren’t over as they dodged a bullet. The big Lost’s sudden attack had drawn the other Lost’s attention and they all were crowded on the narrow pathway. Kyo didn’t want to fight them here but they couldn’t let the Lost overwhelm them all. Kyo fired back a bullet forcing a Lost to stagger back as Kyo ran forward. There were two bayonet wielding ones. Gripping their sword Kyo struck down on the other one. Dodging a strike from the sword wielding one Kyo found themself on the other side. The Lost turned and Kyo fired a bullet through one's chest causing it to disperse. They shoved their sword through another and as soon as that Lost dispersed, Kyo swung their sword, cutting through the last Lost’s chest. 

“Not bad.” Kyo turned to see that Yakumo and Louis walking up towards them.

“I’m glad to see that you’re adjusting well.” Louis said. Kyo went to deny that when they all heard a familiar thud. They all turned to the corner. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Yakumo said as they snuck their way on the cliffside. Like before another huge Lost patrolled the area. As Kyo went to provoke it Louis held out an arm.

“Let me take this one.” 

“Eh?” Kyo went to reject that idea, thinking that Louis should save his strength, when Yakumo patted their shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Louis’ good at dodging.”

“...Alright.” They said in the end. 

Yakumo and Kyo watched as Louis walked up to the Lost, his own footsteps lost in the sound of the Lost’s marching. As soon as the Lost stopped, Louis struck. Disappearing in a flash he quickly struck the Lost several times. It stumbled and Louis dodged the gaze of the Lost as it turned. Seeing Yakumo and Kyo it swung its hammer at them both. Kyo jumped back but Yakumo lunged forward, striking the Lost’s chest with his sword. With that Louis also began striking the Lost’s back. Kyo could only stand there as they weren’t sure what to do. They were already on such a narrow path; they didn’t want to get in the way. The Lost seemed to have other ideas. With it being wounded, it lunged forward, ignoring Yakumo. 

“Watch out!”

The Lost swung its hammer and Kyo barely managed to dodge. They couldn’t go to the side and they didn’t want to turn around. 

‘Is there only forward?’

Lunging forward, Kyo managed to dodge the second strike. They appeared behind the Lost, but it was quick; it spun around and swung again. Kyo jumped back as the hammer narrowingly missed; the shock of the impact sent fear coursing through Kyo. This thin path, can it handle this strain?

“I got this!” Kyo watched as Yakumo rushed forward from behind the Lost. Out of the corner of their eyes they could see Louis send a streak of fire to the Lost’s face. They heard a blast go off and saw Louis narrowly dodge it. Kyo turned and saw another group of Lost waiting behind them.

“Can you handle this?” Louis asked, his gaze still on the large Lost.

“Yes,” was all they said as they turned around. 

There was only one bayonet user this time. Weaving around the other two they focused their attention on it. It didn’t have any shields as such with only a few strikes it went down quickly. Kyo turned towards the other two. Both were using shields, but one was using a polearm, the other a sword. The polearm was heavier, so Kyo decided to strike the Lost they were sure was slower. Their first strike was deflected and as it went to stab them Kyo phased behind it and stabbed it through the chest. They jumped back, dodging a swing from the other Lost. As they went to attack it, they heard a malicious giggle and heard heavy thuds increasing in tempo. Kyo lunged forward as a huge axe cut down the other Lost that didn’t move in time. Turning around Kyo cursed inwardly. 

The same breed of Lost that Louis and Yakumo were fighting stood in front of them. Being flanked by two of these things did not bode well. Kyo lunged forward, delivering several strikes to its chest. Unlike the smaller Lost from earlier, it seemed these huge Lost have thicker skin. Not only that, the rods at the back protected it from being struck in the chest from behind. It swung its arm and Kyo darted to the side. Even if they didn’t get hit by the weapon, the force of the swing would’ve sent them flying. 

Now behind it, Kyo quickly forced blood into the blood veil, activating it. Their hand now a claw, Kyo forced it to sink into the back of the Lost. Even with their blood veil, Kyo could feel how tough the skin was. The Lost stumbled forward as Kyo leaped back. The area here was safer as they were away from the cliff edge. It was cramped, but this time it was more advantageous for Kyo as the huge Lost would have trouble swinging its hammer as much. They fired another blood bullet to make sure that the Lost would keep its attention on them, though it didn’t seem interested in the other two, and backed up a bit to put some distance between the axe and them. 

As they were prepared to fire another bullet, a stream of fire engulfed the Lost’s face. They see Yakumo rush forward and strike at the Lost’s back and Louis attacked it at the front. With both of their efforts the Lost was brought down.

“Are you both alright?” Kyo went up to the two of them, looking them over. Yakumo let out a loud sigh.

“Yeah, you?” Kyo nodded. Louis stayed silent, looking at them. 

“What is it?” 

“Tell me, have you noticed that all the Lost lately have been focused on you?” Kyo thought back to the parking garage, at how the Lost lunged at them; and then just now how the other one did the same thing. Kyo nodded.

“It’s because of that.” Louis pointed to their shoulder; the shoulder that was stained with their blood. “Lost are creatures that have succumbed to the thirst for blood, your wound has healed, but the blood remains. Naturally, they are drawn to it.”

That… would explain why when wounded the Lost turned its attention towards them. Could it have wanted blood in order to heal itself?

“It’s best to be more careful from now on.” Kyo could only nod at Louis’ warning. Just then a familiar smell wafted towards them. Kyo felt their fangs lengthened as they looked up towards the stairs.

“Louis.” Yakumo called out.

“Yeah, they’re close by. We have to hurry.”

If a revenant’s blood could draw a Lost’s attention like that, then what about a human; one who can’t even fight to protect themself?

They all rushed up the stairs. They all followed the smell of blood to an opening. The land was spacious and luckily there was enough space to fight what remaining Lost there was without difficulty. 

“Hm?” 

“What is it, Louis?” 

“Over there, is that… a cocoon?”

Up ahead white threads covered the area, with what seemed to be a flower resting in the middle of it. As they all approached their unease grew. It was quiet and there was no Lost nearby either. 

“Let go of me!” A scream rang out. In front of them was a human and the revenant from earlier.

“We lost the race.” Yakumo heaved up his sword. “Well, strength succeeds where speed fails.” As Yakumo was getting ready to attack the other revenant, Louis stepped in.

“Wait! This place is...” Kyo watched as a Lost they have never seen before unfurled itself from the petals. It glided over to the duo and struck the revenant with its tail, sending him flying. Kyo watched as it ignored the human in favor of the revenant and, as it was preparing to eat him, Louis fired a bullet of blood.

“Take him somewhere safe!” At his order, Yakumo ran out towards the revenant.

“You owe me for this.” Was all he said. Louis and Kyo rushed over to distract the Lost. 

After they both struck the Lost it glided away. Yakumo and Louis rushed forward, but the Lost curled inwards, a purple aura enveloping it.

“Watch out, it’s poison!” Kyo watched as the both of them moved away as balls of airborne poison expelled out from the Lost. Louis was quick to dodge, but Yakumo seemed to be having trouble moving quickly.

“Damn, if only it didn’t have poison!” Kyo fired a bullet to distract it from Yakumo as Louis began striking it from behind. Kyo remembered Louis’ warning about their blood stain. If they get too close, it could mess everything up, so it was better to stay and support from afar… Not only that. Kyo was sure that they saw it right; the Lost ignored the human and went for the revenant. Does that mean that the Lost find revenant blood more valuable than humans? 

Kyo fired two more blood bullets at the Lost’s abdomen forcing it back towards Louis and Yakumo’s attacks. However, the Lost, with the advantage of being airborne, was quick and nimble.

“Watch out!” Kyo watched as the Lost made a beeline for them. Kyo ducked under the first strike but was flung back when the Lost spun around. Standing up Kyo fired a bullet to keep it away from the unconscious revenant.

Fire engulfed the Lost and Kyo leaped back as Yakumo and Louis rushed forward. Seeing the two guarding the body Kyo walked back, trying to get away from the Lost. That knockdown had reopened the wound from earlier and Kyo did not want to draw attention to themself and cause more trouble. 

The Lost had other ideas. After enduring blows from both Yakumo and Louis it curled itself inwards. 

“Poison again?!” Louis tried to attack the Lost to hopefully stop the expelling while Yakumo moved the revenant back. It didn’t work and the force of the expelled poison threw both Yakumo and Louis back. With the two out of the way, it made a beeline to Kyo again. 

Kyo couldn’t dodge in time and was flung back. As they tried to get up again the Lost swung its tail and sent them flying away. Kyo hit the wall and slid down, coughing up blood. 

They looked up and saw the Lost hovering over them. Out of the corner of their eye they could see Yakumo and Louis trying to run over towards them… 

They won’t make it. The poison was hindering the duo’s movements. Louis desperately fired a ball of fire towards the Lost hoping to distract it. It hit, but with a meal right in front of them, the Lost shrugged it off and turned back towards Kyo.

…

They were going to die. 

It was very likely that they would die.

...

What memories would they lose, out of what little they have now?

…

That’s fine.

They don’t mind dying.

All that matters… 

**_Is that they kill the Lost before they do_**.

The mouth that was the creatures tail swung towards them. Kyo swore they could hear someone screaming... but…

It was fine. 

_Clang!_

Deflecting it with their claw, Kyo let a stream of fire engulf the Lost’s face. Surprised, the Lost flew back giving Kyo enough time to regenerate a bit. 

The Lost, meanwhile, was moving back at a surprising speed, expelling poison to keep everyone away. Kyo narrowed their eyes.

That won’t do. 

It relies heavily on surprise attacks from afar, using poison to keep people away. 

That’s right… unlike its tail, its body was much softer to help with its speed. 

Kyo picked up their sword. It felt weightless, unlike before when they were stumbling around, trying to figure out how to fight.

That’s right… 

It went… something like this, right?

Louis watched as Kyo rushed up towards the Lost, striking it with quick, precise movements. Their movements were familiar, Louis realized. It was his skills, his blood code that Kyo was using. But something was off. Kyo focused on attacking from afar mostly; they only engaged in close combat when necessary. 

Louis could tell that Kyo could use a sword, but the way they were using his blood code was off. Kyo slashed at the enemy about three times before stumbling and jumping back, their red eyes irritated.

Wait, red? No, that wasn’t right, Kyo’s eyes were a silver color. 

What does this mean?

“Kyo!” Louis called out, hoping to draw their attention. They didn’t seem to hear him. Louis fired a projectile at the Lost hoping that it would move away enough so that he could go in and help without all the poison. 

As the Lost jumped back, Kyo lunged forward and slashed at the enemy again, three times, before stumbling and jumping back. As they did so they fired a stream of flame at the Lost’s eyes. It screeched before turning its angry gaze back to Kyo.

“Kyo!” He tried again.

“I don’t think they can hear you.” Yakumo whispered from behind him. Yakumo was keeping his eyes on them, watching their every move, waiting for a chance to jump in. Louis turned his gaze back to them.

Besides their odd movements, Kyo was actually doing fine in terms of battle. Their dodges were perfect and after being struck earlier, Kyo hadn’t been hit since. If it wasn’t for the distant look in their eyes, Louis would say that Kyo had remembered how to fight these large Lost.

Wait, memory… Louis looked over at Kyo’s posture watching as they repeated the three strikes from earlier. 

Could this be… a form of muscle memory? 

Revenants lose their memory when they die, but there is a chance that the body remembers something that the mind doesn’t. 

This isn’t good. Louis fired another stream of flame at the Lost. He hypothesized that when Kyo was struck down, their body entered a trance like state in order to fight the Lost. Fighting like that is dangerous. Not only that, Kyo had been fighting extremely close to the Lost relentlessly, their wounds bleeding more and more, poison filling the air.

The Lost let out a screech as it fell to the ground. Kyo slowly walking up towards it. 

“Yakumo, now!”

“Got it!” Yakumo rushed forward. With the Lost like this, he shouldn’t have to worry about poison. Louis on the other hand ran towards Kyo.

“Kyo. Kyo!” He called their name, hoping to wake them. Kyo stopped and looked at him, eyes still red. What should he do now? He had no experience in waking someone up from their reverie. Kyo was still standing there when Yakumo let out a shout.

“Be careful!” The Lost had gotten back up again and it spewed out clouds of poison. Yakumo moved away and the Lost took that opportunity to lunge towards them. Louis managed to evade it, along with Kyo. Louis tsked. It was rather stubborn.

He glanced over to Kyo and saw that after they had dodged, they were still. 

“Kyo?” At the sound of their name Kyo looked over at Louis, eyes silver once more. Louis let out a relieved sigh, only to be interrupted by the Lost screeching. It was close, but it was also heavily wounded.

He should be able to take care of this. 

He fired a bullet at the Lost, when it was forced back, he rushed forward, ducking the tail and when he was right in front of it, jumped up and slashed downwards, cutting the Lost through the chest. The Lost collapsed and dispersed without a sound. 

He turned back to Kyo, taking note of their confusion. 

“What… happened to me?” They asked, standing up. 

“Don’t know.” Yakumo said, walking up to them. “Though, it was helpful, so don’t worry about it too much.”

“Huh?” Kyo could only look at him with a bewildered expression. 

“Are you alright?” He asked. The wounds that caused Kyo to fall into that trance… he looked them over. They had regenerated some of their cells back, but he could see the chunk of flesh missing from their shoulder and the gash on their chest.

“Ah.” Kyo looked down at themself, reaching a hand up to feel the wounds before they forced themself to regenerate. 

“Can you still regenerate?” He asked, guilt gnawing at him. Kyo had only just recovered from yesterday and he had forced them out into the field in his impatience. He had expected numerous Lost and he was confident that he and Yakumo would be able to assist Kyo when they had trouble, but he definitely did not expect the huge Lost that was nesting here to be so dangerous. 

Kyo nodded. 

“Yes, I’m fine, though… the blood…” It seems Kyo had taken his words to heart about the stench of blood. 

“It’s fine.” He assured. He’ll take care of any Lost that would try to devour them.

“Now…” Yakumo drawled, gesturing towards the body. “What do we do with him?”

The body let out a groan. Kyo followed Louis and Yakumo as they approached the other revenant. 

“You awake?” Louis asked him.

“You!” The revenant jumped up. “I remember you! Where’s the girl? Answer me! Where did you take her?!”

Louis narrowed his eyes.

“We’re taking custody of the girl.” Was all he said.

“That human belongs to us! We will take her back…” The revenant took a step forward, only for Yakumo to pull out a gun. Kyo could only looked on with a dull feeling of shock.

“Humans aren’t property.” Louis said. “They have the same right to live as we do.”

At that Kyo could see the revenant clench his fists.

“Don’t give me that noble crap.” He whispered, voice wavering. “They have no rights!” His voice rose until he was screaming.

“And why shouldn’t we feed on them? We’re the ones keeping them safe after all! Why were we kicked out of our graves?! Who did we die for, again and again at the Queen’s hand?! We writhe with this terrible thirst! We live in fear of joining the ranks of the Lost! And for whose sake?! It’s all in the service of humans! If blood is the only price they have to pay, then they have a pretty good deal!” 

Kyo could only watch as the revenant screamed his grievances at them. Revenants never truly die unless struck in the heart. But... who wants to die? Who wants to die in a place like this? And the alternative… was to lose who you are...

Yakumo stepped forward, tone laced with fury.

“That doesn’t mean you can just… do whatever you want with them!” He said, pointing the gun closer to the other. 

The revenant proved to be more gutsy then Kyo expected. Even at the sight of a gun pointed towards him, he still shot back at Yakumo with fury. 

“And what about the rights of revenants? Huh? It’s not like we’re choosing to live this way because it’s a fun way to live!”

Kyo watched as Louis threw something at him amidst his screaming. A gleam of red fell out and Kyo could see that it was a bag of blood beads.

“That should be enough to get you through a month or so.”

“Whoa, wait a minute!” Ignoring Yakumo’s protests, Louis pulled his sword from the ground.

“Just make sure that you and I never cross paths again.” Louis swung the sword out to the revenant.

“This is your one and only warning.” He said, tone eerily calm.

The revenant paused as he saw the sword, his next words coming out as a tremble.

“N-No way... The Crimson Sword?!” 

‘The Crimson Sword?’ Kyo couldn’t help wondering what that was about.

The revenant, taking heed of Louis’ warning, scrambled to pick up the blood beads before running off. 

“Guess we’ll be rationing for a while.” Yakumo put up his gun and grabbed his sword, walking inward. “Ah, well. What is lost can be found again, huh?”

Kyo turned to Louis who had not followed. He was quiet, looking at where the revenant had run off.

“I swear I’ll end it.” He promised. To who, Kyo wondered. “The revenants’ suffering must end.”

He walked off a solemn air around him. Kyo scrambling to follow. 

Hidden under the nest, Kyo could see old supplies lying around and at the center, a bloodspring. Kyo walked up to it, nails piercing their skin as they let blood dribble down their hand. Like before the spring came to life sprouting a new blood bead and gaining a shining white color.

“Okay, we can trace the flow of the blood beads from here.” Louis knelt down, his earlier solemn air gone.

“Just a sec… Gimme a moment to finish this, then we can head out.” Louis poured something from a vial onto the spring. Kyo watched in amazement as a golden light shone from underneath, travelling away from the spring.

“Our destination is this way.” Louis gestured to an elevator. “This should get us there.”

“We set? Alright, then…” Yakumo stopped, eyes shifting around. “I know you’re there.”

Kyo looked over to where Yakumo was looking at. The human from before stepped out… with a knife held to her own throat. Louis held out a hand to placate her. 

“What are you…”

“Stay back!” Instead it aggravated her more. “I’m the one who decides how I live! I won’t listen to you anymore!”

Yakumo walked closer when Louis’ approach failed.

“That’s fine. Just put down the knife” All that managed to do it make her more upset as her trembling grew.

“I’m sick and tired of it! Every day, having my blood sucked by every passing revenant, I’m not an animal!”

“You’re right… and we can help you.” Louis stepped closer to her. “I know someone who can take you to the government shelters for humans. If you ask, they’ll take you in and you’ll be able to live in safety.”

That seemed to calm her down, just a bit, as the knife she held was placed away from her neck, but only a small distance away.

“What?”

“You won’t have to spend your days living in fear of revenants anymore” Louis said. “Although you’ll be asked to donate blood.”

As soon as he said that she placed the knife back up towards her throat.

“It’s-It’s a trick! Do you really think I’m going to fall for that?” Kyo didn’t blame her. Louis always seemed to make deals that are too good to be true. Louis, on the other hand, calmly reached towards his pocket, pulling out a yellowed card.

“Everything you need to know is on that paper.” He said, stepping back when she took it. “You’re the one who decides how you live.”

Louis turned away once he saw that she had put the knife down.

“Why?” She whispered to him.

“I think the time for sacrifices is over. That’s all.” Was all Louis said to her. He turned back to Kyo and Yakumo.

“Alright. We should hurry.” Yakumo and Louis moved towards the elevator, but Kyo couldn’t help but look back towards the human girl. She was still hiding behind the crates, looking lost and scared. 

“The rest is up to her.” Louis said to them. “Come on, let’s continue our search.”

“...” Kuo looked over at Louis before turning back.

Kyo put their sword to the ground. They made sure that their footsteps were loud as they approached the human and when they were close enough, they knelt on the ground.

“Kyo?” Louis called out. Kyo looked over at the human. She was looking down at them, scared… but the knife remained by her side, limp.

“Are you alright?” They asked, as sincere as they could. The human looked stunned, before she started to tremble; tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Yeah.” She whispered, collapsing on the ground. “Yeah…”

She cried quietly holding the card close to her. Kyo stayed by her side, but never reached out to touch her. They were sure that she didn’t want that right now. 

They stayed until her tears dried up and her sniffles died down. She stayed silent, before turning over to them.

“I thought all revenants were the same… but I guess they’re some like you, huh?” She sniffled, reaching a hand up to wipe her face. Kyo wanted to pat her head in a show of comfort, but they stayed still. Even if she said that, she still must be scared of revenants.

“Um, sorry… about earlier…” She looked over to them. “I’ll try to be more positive about the shelter.” Kyo nodded to show that they heard her.

“Be safe.” Was all they said to her. They stood up slowly as not to startle her. They turned away and walked over to where the other two were waiting, picking up their sword.

“In there, right?” Kyo said, pointing over to the elevator. Louis nodded.

“Yeah.” And walked in. 

Kyo turned to look at the human one last time, their eyes meeting, before Kyo followed Louis into the elevator. 

...They didn’t want to leave her there, but maybe with the Lost cleared out a bit she could reach the destination on the card.

“Alright, ready?” Yakumo stepped onto the rising platform, bringing it down. The doors shut and Kyo watched as the elevator start to move down. 

The ride down was quiet and Kyo couldn’t help but think back to the human and revenant. 

The human girl who wanted to die for herself and the revenant who wanted to live as himself… 

They turned their thoughts back to that slave pen with Oliver and the others. Revenants enslaving each other had become common here according to Louis. Louis had also said that humans were kept under the eye of the government, but he had that card... While possibly not as common as the other, it seems that revenants have been enslaving humans as well.

A blood bead is a replacement for human blood. But to have a human, the need to go into the unknown and search for blood beads, and becoming a Lost, becomes nil. 

This place inside the red wall had become a den for people using each other to help themselves. To live just a little bit longer.

They understand the need, but it still leaves a bad taste in their mouth.

The elevator stopped and they all stepped into a corridor. It was impaled with the thorns, but it didn’t seem like it would collapse. 

There were no splitting paths so the walk was straightforward. There was no Lost here either. 

Kyo could see sunlight up ahead and when they walked out, they saw that they were walking along a cliff.

“This place has changed completely too.” They heard Louis say. Kyo glanced out and saw glass skyscrapers and a tall building with glass at the top… No, they know what that is… a lighthouse, right? Was this place once filled with water?

“Yeah… it seems like everything’s changed since the Great Collapse. The only thing that’s stayed the same is our appearance.”

Kyo watched as they both looked on solemnly at the scene. A faint memory of a sea of blue fluttered from their grasp. Even though it was a brief image, they could understand why the two would be awestruck. A sea now just a wasteland. 

“Come on!” They heard Yakumo say. “We won’t find the source by reminiscing.”

Louis and Yakumo walked ahead, Kyo trailing behind. They didn’t get too far when they all heard something.

“It’s all my fault…” A familiar voice cried out. Yakumo stopped, before turning around.

“You say something, Louis?” He shook his head.

“No.” There was a hint of confusion in his tone.

“Why didn’t I…!” The voice cried out again. They all followed the sound and saw a vestige lying beside the path. Louis looked down in shock.

“Is this… Is this really my…?” His vestige. If Kyo could do what they did with Oliver… Kyo looked over at Louis. Slowly, his eyes trailed up to them as if he had just remembered their other ability.

“Are you sure?” Kyo asked. Louis nodded. Kyo knelt down to pick up his vestige as gently as they could. 

Almost immediately it expanded, its thorns crushing their bones and digging itself deeper inside of them. They didn’t scream this time but the waves of emotions were still as powerful.

Guilt.

Sorrow.

Fear.

Regret.

Those things crashed into them like a wave. But steadily they managed to keep their head afloat and separate themself from it. A bright light shined…

And Kyo found themself standing in front of a building. They could see a tree growing on one side while a fence sealed off some rubble on the other. 

They walked forward.

“Hey there, Louis. Are your classes done for the day?” They heard someone ask.

“Is Cruz awake?” They see Louis’s shadow ask.

“She sure is. In fact, she seems to be in a pretty good mood today too. Go on ahead and see her. Here’s your visitation pass.”

Kyo walked inwards. Up ahead Kyo could see a door in the hallway. As they were walking towards it, they hear Louis and a female voice, who they assume to be Cruz, talking with each other; laughing. As they approached the topic quickly turned serious.

“I hope the experiments end soon. So how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine… Could be worse. Your sister has been taking good care of me, so… don’t worry.” They stepped into the room and saw that it was no ordinary hospital room. Machines that looked out of place lied in the corner with wires hooked up to it. The only thing hospital like was the bed and the IV.

“I’m the only one who can do it.” The voice said. “And I have you and the others watching over me… so I’ll be okay. Anyway, enough of that. I want to hear more of your stories from school!”

The image fade to black and they found themself in front of the building again.

“Oh, you’re hear early again, Louis. Is school on break right now?” 

“Yeah. The professors are devoting all their time to research, lately… How’s Cruz?”

“Well, we’re having a hard time suppressing what’s causing the rejection. Ordinarily, we wouldn't let you see her…”

“I see. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

The hallway opened up again. But it was more… rugged. The walls were cracked, and the paint chipped. They could see the same door open and hear Louis comforting Cruz.

“Why does it have to be me.” Kyo heard her say. She let out a pained gasp and they could hear Louis panic.

“I… I won’t… stop fighting… I won’t give up… so stay with me.” Her plea echoed as everything faded away again.

Once more they were outside. As they walked in, they didn’t see the receptionist. Instead they heard Cruz plead to Louis. As they walked down the hall, they could hear Louis cry out.

“Cruz, I… I can’t!”

“Louis… stop me… Please… please…” She whispered, begging. 

“Kill me.” She rasped out. Kyo stopped. That… request… They furrowed their brows. What was she going through, to ask that? The human from before was pushed into wanting to kill herself out of despair. Was it something similar here?

“I can’t! They heard Louis cry out.

The door slowly creaked open but they didn’t see anyone inside. Everything went black and when they came to the front of the building had been dyed red with blood. It was silent and as they followed the trail of blood, they could see Louis’ shadow kneeling on the ground.

“No… What… have I done?” Everything faded but this time… this time Kyo could hear fires crackling and screams of terror as an image slowly formed. They could see Louis on top of rubble holding on to someone.

“Run, Louis… Save yourself…” She said to him.

“Big sister!” Louis cried out, desperate. They could imagine him shaking her to wake her up… but she... didn’t say anything after that. 

It’s all my fault, they heard him say. 

“Why-Why didn’t I-!” Kyo watched as Cruz appeared behind Louis with white spikes forming from nothing.

…

Kyo watched as the spikes pierced through him… Everything went black and Louis himself faded into view.

“That was real…” He whispered in awe. “A genuine memory from my past. From when the Queen… from when Cruz frenzied.”

So... that was the Queen. Or rather who she was. Louis looked back to them, face impassive.

“Guess I can’t hide anything from you, huh?” Hide, huh. Well, this was deeply personal, so they didn’t blame him. 

Kyo walked over to Yakumo, curious to what he would say. After all this is his first time seeing a vestige memory, and a tragic one from his friend no less.

“I’m still not sure what happened back then. All I know is that when I finally came to, I was a revenant. I heard a lot of folks died then, but…”

“I see.” Was all they said. They looked up at the stone doors.

‘That’s right, Io said that… I had to go through these doors to go back.’ 

Their footsteps echoed as they walked up, the door opened, light shining... 

When they all came to, Kyo and Yakumo looked over at Louis. After all it was his memory they had just witnessed, and a tragic one at that. Would he be alright? 

He turned away from them both.

“Nobody would want to relieve that. I couldn’t stop Cruz from going into a frenzy... So many people lost their lives, including my sister.” He looked fragile, standing under the orange sun. “I wanted to forget my frailty… But…”

His straighten up.

“If we can find the Source and ensure a stable supply of blood beads, then revenants will be fried from their thirst. Once that happens, there will no longer be any need for Silva’s levy system, humans and revenants will finally be able to live together in peace. I’m going to take responsibility for my past. I think it’s the least I can do.”

Yakumo walked up, giving Louis a huge slap on the shoulder that jerked him forward. 

“Then stop talking about it and let’s get it done. Are we ending this nightmare or what? You can’t always charge forward if you’re always looking back.” He scolded, sounding surprisingly wise. Louis nodded.

“Yeah, I know.”

Louis and Yakumo turned and walked away, Kyo followed, pondering what they just learned. Cruz was the Queen that the revenants fought. Louis was there at the start of Project QUEEN and he had a chance to stop it, but didn't, which is why he felt guilty… but there’s something that confuses them.

If Louis forgot about Cruz and this incident, what drives him to do these things; when they first met him? He should have no memory of this incident taking place. Could it be that his feelings of guilt stayed even after he forgot?

No… that isn’t right. Louis said to them “I can’t hide anything from you.”

Does that mean that he remembered that he was responsible, but forgot these specific memories?

Maybe because of their lack of memories this notion confuses them.

“Oh, well it would be nice to take a break here.” They heard Yakumo said, cutting their thoughts off. Looking up Kyo saw a rotted mistle lying ahead.

“Ah, I’m on it.” They walked up to it and cut into the scabs that had formed earlier with their nails. 

“Sometimes I still can’t believe this is happening.” Yakumo said as he sat down, looking over at them. All Kyo could do was shrug. Louis, after a while, also sat down. They could feel the mistle rejuvenate them, washing away aches and pains they didn't know they had. They rested in silence.

Louis could feel the mistle soothe away his physical aches. But what he just learned, what he just witnessed; that would stay with him.

It’s all his fault. Everything is all his fault.

The revenant’s suffering and the humans- everything.

He looked over at Yakumo. He still didn’t understand how the other could be so casual about what he did. Doesn’t he know that he’s the reason why they had to live like this?

And then there was Kyo. He had already felt like he was asking too much of them, but now to know that he had to rely on someone innocent because he couldn’t clean up his own mess…

No wonder he wanted to forget. As he let his thoughts wonder he realized that it was uncharacteristically quiet. Normally, Yakumo would try to talk to someone, he hated silence. He knows when to be quiet, yes, but often times he would move around or look somewhere else.

He looked up and saw that the other two were also deep in their own thoughts. However, when they saw him move, they both turned to look over at him. 

… Were they waiting on him?

He grabbed his sword and stood, watching the other two do the same.

“Come on. Let’s hunt down the Source.” He said. Yakumo smiled.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Kyo looked over him and gave him a nod, eyes bright with resolve.

Louis could feel his lips twitch up. He’s thankful that Yakumo stuck by him all this time. Maybe he’ll let him drink a bit more when they get back.

And Kyo. He looked over at them and at their bloodstained outfit. He’ll do everything to help them in this unkind world that he caused. He remembered how earlier they were pushed to the point of almost dying. He felt a flash of guilt but that only steeled him with determination.

He’ll make sure to fix his mistakes. He won’t fail. He swears it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Okay I have everything planned out, just gotta write all of this.
> 
> *Chapter becomes way longer then expected and isn't even where it was supposed to end*
> 
> Me: ...


	3. Chapter 3

Kyo walked behind Yakumo and Louis as they both led the way. Besides the occasional surprise attack from a Lost, Yakumo and Louis made everything easier for them. 

Luckily, the cliffs here weren’t as thin and fragile as the one in the ruins, so they were much more confident in fighting.

Though… with the network of caves, they were surprised they didn’t get lost.

But still, they didn’t run into too much trouble.

“We’re in Lost territory now.” Until now.

Up ahead Lost were patrolling around a wreckage.

“Look, up ahead.”

And even further up, more Lost could be seen guarding a narrow passage onto the other side of the cliff. Kyo could see that on the other side the Lost were positioned in such a way that anyone going across would be at a huge disadvantage. Louis narrowed his eyes.

“An ambush, huh?” Yakumo glanced over at Louis.

“So, what do we do?” Louis went silent as he pondered. He turned to Yakumo.

“Can you draw their attention away?” Yakumo nodded, an excited gleam in his eyes.

“Yeah, Leave it to me.”

Kyo wasn’t surprised, after all, unlike the cliff-sides and closed-in rubble, this area was actually wide open, giving Yakumo room to actually swing his sword without worrying. After Yakumo managed to draw all the Lost’s attention Louis looked over at them.

“Come on.” 

With all the attention on Yakumo, sneaking up behind was easy. Of course, there was still the big Lost’s wide swings to watch out for.

Kyo took out the bayonet wielder while Louis focused on alleviating the burden that Yakumo was dealing with. The smaller Lost were quickly dealt with. Kyo turned over and saw that Louis and Yakumo were tag teaming the remaining huge Lost. Louis had managed to catch the attention of one of them and was currently dealing with it. Yakumo had the other two on him and with how he swung his sword, managed to knock them both down.

Kyo looked over and saw that Louis had killed his opponent and was rushing forward to deal with the remaining two. Yakumo had thrust his sword into the Lost while it was down, and Louis did the same to the other effectively ending them.

“Whew.” Yakumo pulled his sword out of the ground and rolled his shoulders. “That’s over with.”

“But there’s still the other side.” Louis pointed out. Kyo glanced over at the thin path towards the other cliff. Yakumo couldn’t fight there, he could take some of the Lost’s attacks, but Kyo and Louis wouldn’t be able to run around him in time if something happens.

“Such a long trip and we still can’t get a break.” Yakumo huffed. Louis narrowed his eyes.

“We can rest now before we charge on ahead.” Yakumo sat down and leaned against the ship.

“Yeah, good idea.” Besides the mistle at the beginning of the cliffs, there hasn’t been a chance to take a break. Louis also leaned against the ship, though he was still standing. 

Kyo… felt a bit guilty. They know that these two were more experienced than them and that getting in their way would trouble them both, but they wished they could help a bit. Since Kyo was well rested than the other two they decided to look around.

“Don’t wonder too far.” Yakumo said. Kyo turned and nodded to them both.

They looked around the ship wreckage. Louis had said that this used to be part of the ocean, so they weren’t surprised to see it. Though… that Lost from earlier had been on top of the ship, scouting. Kyo checked around the ship, but saw no doors and they couldn’t bust their way in. 

They went to the other side. It was the same. No doors and rusty metal. As they were turning back, something caught their eye.

Louis and Yakumo had been keeping an eye on Kyo just in case a Lost decided to climb up the cliffs to attack them. What they hadn’t expected was Kyo _jumping down_.

“Kyo!” Louis immediately ran forward.

“Damn, what are they-!” Yakumo stopped as they both saw Kyo standing on solid ground looking up at them.

“What is it?” Yakumo looked out and saw thorns connecting different cliff passages to this area.

“Huh.” He jumped down, ignoring Louis’ protest. “There was a path down here too?”

Kyo only stared at him blankly. They didn’t want to get the two involved with this and they were confident that they could climb up if this little trip ended up being useless.

“You don’t have to come along…” Was all they said. Yakumo snorted.

“We,” he pointed to himself. “Are supposed to look after you.” 

Yakumo turned up to Louis.

“Isn’t that right?” Louis stayed silent but jumped down.

“Don’t run off on your own.” He said to them, Kyo could only nod. 

“Alright…” Yakumo heaved up his sword.

“Alright then, where to?” He said, looking at Kyo.

“Huh?” Wait, weren’t they following Louis?

“Your exploration, your decision.” Was all Yakumo said. Kyo stayed silent and turned to Louis. He looked at them then gestured silently towards the thorn.

“...” With no other choice, they carefully stepped on the thorn. After making sure that it was stable, they slowly walked along it. Behind them they could hear Louis and Yakumo following. 

…

They felt nervous, leading these two somewhere, they were worried that something might happen. 

There was a split on the path, one lead to a cave, but Kyo had originally wanted to get closer to the ship. They didn’t see any path towards it, but they took the one that was closer to it. 

This path led to an opening and there was a thin area where they could walk along.

…

They hope that no Lost would attack them here… They walked on…

The path seemed clear, but soon Kyo heard the noise of a Lost.

They could feel Yakumo and Louis get ready to attack. Kyo gripped their sword tighter and turned the corner.

“Huh?” There was indeed a Lost underneath, but the important thing was…

“A mistle, a very good find.” They could hear Louis say. Yakumo let out a quiet cheer.

“Alright, so let’s deal with that Lost and take a well-earned break.” They had expected Louis and Yakumo to rush forward… before they realized that they were at the front.

...They didn’t want to turn around to see what face Yakumo and Louis were making so they walked on quietly. 

They had no desire to fight on such a thin walkway, so they waited until they were in the cave where the mistle was. It still wasn’t ideal, but at least they wouldn’t fall off if they fought. After they were safely inside, Kyo raised a hand and fire at the Lost, who was focused on the ladder. The Lost lurched forward and turned around, but before Kyo could do anything Yakumo rushed forward and cleaved the humanoid Lost in half. Splattering blood everywhere.

“...” Kyo reached a hand up to wipe the blood off their face, watching in muted awe as it turned into haze and dispersed. They had killed the Lost, but they hadn’t stopped and checked if there had been blood staining them. Well, blood besides their own.

“Whew, alright, let’s take a break.” Yakumo looked over at Kyo.

“Oh, right.” Their powers. Kyo walked up to the mistle, dug their nails into their hand and watched as the mistle came back to life. Yakumo sat down and took off his mask taking in a big sigh, Louis opted to go stand in a corner, taking off his mask as well. 

Kyo… sat as far away from the other two as they could. They took off their mask.

Everything was silent. Louis was in deep through, Yakumo looked like he was sleeping and Kyo didn’t really want to talk to either of them.

They wanted to leave and explore that ladder, but after last time they decided to stay put. 

The silence continued and as Kyo was about to take a page out of Yakumo’s book and try to shut their eyes Louis spoke up.

“What were you thinking, when you decided to jump down?” Louis looked over at them. Kyo looked over at Louis. He was staring at them, waiting for them.

“I… had noticed that the Lost had been on top of the ship,” they started. “I was wondering how it got up there.”

Louis stayed silent, looking them over.

“There is a chance that it could have climbed up. While this situation worked out, please tell us if you want to go investigate something.”

Kyo closed their eyes.

“Yes.”

They understand that they could've put themself in danger, so they accepted the scolding.

Though… they did keep one thing away from Louis. That little exploration they had, looking around trying to find something, a missing path or maybe a key-anything really, had been so… nostalgic to them.

They understand that they can’t wander off without others… but maybe, alone they could-

Yakump got up and stretched.

“Alright then!” He said in his usual loud boisterous way. “That’s enough resting for now.”

He swung his sword up to his shoulder.

“So, what now?” He asked, turning to Louis. 

“Let’s go up here.” Louis said, turning to the ladder. 

“Got it.” Yakumo went first as he had the bigger weapon and it would be better for him to get out of the cramped space first.

After Yakumo went, Louis followed; leaving Kyo to go last.

Kyo waited until Louis had managed to get off the ladder before they started climbing. 

“You were right.” Louis said when they reached the top. Kyo was still on the ladder, so they just looked at him confused as he reached out his hand.

They took it and as they climbed onto ground, they saw that they were on top of the ship from earlier.

Looking at their vantage point Kyo could see several Lost roaming around on the other side.

“Let’s use this to our advantage and scout out the enemy.” Yakumo let out a huff and sat down. Kyo followed his eyes. 

At the narrow crossing they could see a Lost patrolling. Behind they could see another Lost standing guard. Not only that; Lost that were stuck into the ground were specifically facing that narrow passage. 

“We can’t see the cave.” Yakumo whispered over to Louis, who made a sound of affirmation. Kyo guessed that it was their next destination, but they kept quiet. They didn’t know this location like the other two did, so they couldn’t offer much help.

Louis stayed silent for some time, before turning to the others.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do…”

Kyo ended up sandwiched between Louis and Yakumo, with Louis leading in the front. The plan was to rush ahead onto more solid ground. Louis was quicker so he was to break through. Kyo was backup in case something goes wrong and Yakumo would try to force the Lost away from the two of them once he managed to reach the other side safely; where then they could take down the Lost more easily. Of course, there was always a chance of something going wrong, but this is the best they could do.

Right now, Louis had his eye on the Lost that was patrolling the thin passage. It had a bayonet, giving it an advantage against all of them. Louis was planning on taking that one out before they charged ahead.

Its back was facing them and Kyo watched as Louis slowly approached; his pace trying to be quiet but quick enough to catch the Lost by surprise. 

The Lost stopped but Louis continued to walk; and so did they. 

Closer.

And closer.

Kyo watched as Louis was standing right behind it. He readied his sword and as the Lost turned, Louis’ sword was embedded into its chest.

If Louis had hoped for it to be a silent kill, he would be disappointed then. The Lost let out a pained screech and fell to the ground, dissapaiting. 

The attention of the other Lost was drawn towards them.

“Now!” Louis commanded as he charged forward. The Lost started to fire. Louis cut down a Lost that was right at the opening. He ducked forward, avoiding a streak of flame, and cut down one of the fire-breathing Lost. 

Kyo ran towards Louis’ left taking down the Lost that was resting and cutting it in half. Once that was done, Kyo quickly jumped away, dodging a streak of flame that was aimed at them. 

Kyo looked up. The Lost that was firing at them was perched on the edge of a cliff. 

Kyo clicked their tongue.

There was no way that they could kill it, avoiding it seemed to be the best they could do right now. 

Another streak of fire blasted towards them, with Kyo narrowly avoiding it. Kyo turned their head.

This one though was at the same level they were. 

They fired a blood bullet at it and as they were going to rush forward, they heard resounding steps sound out. A huge grey Lost came out, rushing towards them. Kyo moved back when a ball of fire struck the Lost in the face.

“Hurry and kill the other one!” Louis commanded. Kyo ran, ducking underneath the swing of the Lost and ran to impale the immovable one. 

Killing that was easy enough. The problem was that as soon as they did that, two huge purple Lost climbed up from the cliffside.

“Damn!” They couldn’t let those two move to Louis. They fired a quick projectile at it and started to move away from Louis’ position.

“Don’t let them back you into a corner!” A rush of red quickly spun and knocked the two Lost down. The two Lost were wounded but not enough to disperse. Yakumo immediately went to cut up one and Kyo was about to go kill the other when a shout from behind turned their attention away. 

Louis had managed to draw the grey Lost away and killed it, but another one of the same type had appeared.

“Go!” Yakumo shouts. Kyo ran to Louis. The space where Yakumo was big enough for him to swing his sword so there was no need to worry. Louis, on the other hand, had moved closer to the edge to get the other Lost away from Yakumo.

Louis relies on dodging, so standing so close to the cliff edge was a major disadvantage to him. Kyo ran until they were as close as they could be to the Lost. 

They didn’t want to take any chances and fire something that could hit Louis. 

Kyo ducked under the Lost’s erratic swinging. 

Attacking it with Louis at the edge would be bad too, with the chance that the Lost could take Louis down with it.

Kyo raised their sword and slammed the handle at the Lost’s legs. It buckled, falling to its knees. Kyo swung the flat of their blade at the back of the Lost’s head. It lurched forward, stunned, and Kyo moved back as Louis appeared in front of them.

He turned as the Lost was recovering from the blow and, in a flurry of swings, killed it.

Kyo turned back to Yakumo and dodged as a sword swings past them, nearly taking off their head. It was one of the purple Lost that had escaped from Yakumo’s gaze. As it was leaning back Kyo quickly kicked it away from them and fired a blood bullet into its eyes.

Its head jerked back but before it could recover Louis appeared before it; his sword piercing through it chest.

As it dissolved Yakumo walked up to them both. 

“You both doing OK?” Louis nodded.

“Yeah, glad that didn’t go wrong.”

A ball of fire shot past them and hit the metal sheets. They all turned to see the one lone Lost looking at them.

“Stubborn one, huh?”

“Let’s leave it, besides the bloodspring should be down there.” Louis gestured to the cave entrance. Yakumo sighed.

“Alright then, after you.” Louis walked in the cave first. Yakumo turned to Kyo, jerking his head to the cave.

Kyo followed Louis per Yakumo’s orders into the cave. Behind them they could hear Yakumo.

“Hm.” Louis stopped. “Down here.”

The path ends, but there was a ladder going down. Without hesitation he jumped down.

“We can rest here.” Louis said, looking over at the rotten mistle.

“Well, looks like our luck is going up.” Yakumo said, jumping down. Kyo waited a bit before joining the duo. 

They pierced their hand and Yakumo sat down to rest. Louis went over to the wall to lean against it. Kyo, curious, went over to the curve of the cave and saw that it was the exit.

“...”

“Hey, what is it?” Yakumo asked.

“Over there, is that… a Lost?” Kyo pointed out of the cave exit.

Louis stood and paced over to where Kyo was, Yakumo following behind.

Out of the cave they all could see a huge figure, lying still in the middle of the area. 

“Is it… sleeping?” Was all Kyo could say. The huge Lost had something in it… in its chest.

“Even if it was, we ought to be prepared. Take as much time to recover before we move on ahead.” At Louis orders they all went back to the mistle. Yakumo sat down, but he was doing some stretches with his arms. Louis had returned to his position leaning on the wall and Kyo just sat away from the other two.

In terms of dealing with Lost like this, Kyo had no clue. They could somewhat remember what happened with the poisonous Lost earlier, but they couldn’t use that to their advantage. 

All that they remember was that they needed to kill the Lost, no matter what. But… that was a rather irresponsible thought process. They were sure that they were reckless and that had completely ignored Louis and Yakumo too. 

They were in a team now, as awkward as it is, so they can’t just ignore the other two. Not only that…they could attack the other two; that was a possibility as well.

They couldn’t let themself get like that again.

“Are we ready?” Louis asked, standing. Yakumo grunted as he got up.

“Yeah.”

They both turned to Kyo, who only nodded as they grabbed their sword and stood.

“Let’s go.” Louis said, looking out of the cave. 

They all walked forward. 

As they exited the cave, the Lost didn’t stir. 

“Careful, we don’t know what will happen.” They all walked quietly as they could. 

The Lost that was still, jerked, its hands grabbing the weapons at its side.

“We have to fight.”

“Fine by me.” Louis and Yakumo fell into a fighting stance. Kyo moved back from them slightly but was also getting ready to fight.

The Lost screeched and lunged forward, its blades gleaming as it swung down. Yakumo and Louis dodged; with Yakumo spinning his sword right into the Lost’s legs. Louis jumped back, firing flames at the back of the Lost.

Kyo could once again do nothing but watch, as they felt that intervening would be a fruitless attempt. Still, they couldn’t help but marvel at Louis and Yakumo’s teamwork. Yakumo kept all the attention onto himself, while Louis would quickly chip away at the Lost.

The Lost spun around, forcing Louis to move away; Yakumo on the other hand stayed close to the Lost as he brought up his sword to guard. 

The Lost leaped back. It gathered blood in its hand and slammed down on the ground. Louis and Yakumo tensed; bringing up their swords in expectation. 

Instead, a swirl of blood appeared… right under Kyo.

“!?” Kyo jumped back as the swirl erupted a large towering rock appearing before them.

“What?”

“Watch out!” Kyo didn’t get to inspect the rock any further as they dodged a strike from the Lost.

Seems like it somehow escaped Yakumo and had ran all the way here. It spun again, but it’s spin, while wide, was slow so there wasn’t a huge amount of effort required in dodging.

The current problem they had was wondering what to do.

They fired a bullet at the Lost as they jumped back again; just as Yakumo rushed in to distract the Lost, Louis coming up behind. Kyo watched as Yakumo was trying to push the Lost back, away from them.

Everything was going fine, until they heard something shatter from behind them; a screech ringing out.

They turned, dodging a swing from an axe.

Another Lost was here.

‘How?’ Kyo thought as they immediately went to attack it. Without worrying about getting in the way, it was easy to fight.

A swirl of blood stopped them, and they had to move away from the Lost. Kyo took a quick look at the huge Lost. Yakumo and Louis seem to be taking care of it just fine. 

They turned and dodged the haphazard swings from the Lost, rushing behind to stab it when they heard something shatter again.

Moving away from the Lost, they turned to see another Lost and that it was a copy of the one they were fighting, axe and all.

Could this be a type of cloning ability? Or was this Lost actually making new Lost?

Either way, they had to kill them, lest they be eventually overrun with swarms of Lost.

Louis glanced over at Kyo, frowning when he saw them battle two Lost. Where had they come from, he wondered.

The Lost jumped away again. Louis frowned as he disappeared, appearing before the Lost and slashing it twice. Yakumo rushed towards the Lost, but the Lost sweeped it baldes around, forcing Yakumo to stop and block. Louis ran towards the Lost, but it jumped back again, ichor gathering in its hands as it slammed it down onto the floor. Louis moved back, bringing up his sword, as he looked for the target of the enemy’s attack. 

It wasn’t him nor Yakumo. Dread crawling up his spine he took a quick look at Kyo. They had killed one of the other Lost and had been battling when a red swirl covered their feet. They dodged as a red rock appeared.

“What?” Louis didn’t have time to dwell as the huge Lost started to attack them both again. Yakumo was quick to move it away from him. Louis rushed behind it, delivering multiple strikes to its legs. From his position he could keep track of Kyo. From there he saw them actually strike at the rock a few times before they had to retreat from the axe wielding Lost. 

He furrowed his brows. Why would Kyo ignore the Lost to attack the rock? 

He got his answer when the rock started to gather ichor. Kyo moved away and started attacking the Lost as fast as they could. Louis watched as the rock burst and a Lost, identical to the one Kyo was battling, came out. 

His eyes widened. This Lost can summon others. If it continues to do what it is doing sooner or later, they’ll be overrun by Lost. 

The Lost leaped back, ichor gathering in its hand.

“Yakumo! Make sure to stop it!” Yakumo glanced over at him.

“You got it!” Yakumo spun again, knocking the Lost down. Louis quickly ran forward slashing the Lost as much as he could.

Despite his efforts, it managed to get to its knees.

“Yakumo!”

“Yeah!” 

Something was off, Louis realized. Their attacks didn’t seem to faze it as much. Rather than that, it seems like it didn’t feel their attacks.

The Lost slammed its blades down into the ground, hands reaching for the thing stuck in its chest.

“What is it-?” With a burst of ichor, it slammed the handle next to the blades and slowly stood up, holding a huge axe.

It swept the axe around it in a semicircle. Louis dodged back. Yakumo put up his sword to block.

… He made a mistake, he realized with growing horror as the Lost turned its attention away from the two. 

“Yakumo, stop it!” But Yakumo couldn’t do anything as the Lost jumped, blade gleaming.

“NO! WATCH OUT!” He screamed.

Kyo watched as the Lost they were fighting dispersed into haze. A scream echoed out and Kyo moved to the side.

But they didn’t move fast enough. 

A huge blade crushed through their shoulder; warm blood sprayed across their face. 

They staggered forward, hand reaching up to their missing arm to try to stem the bleeding. 

Dimly, they could hear the Lost screech.

“Go regenerate, I’ll handle this!” They heard Yakumo shout. 

They jumped away from the fighting and concentrated as much as they could.

It was an interesting experience; they could feel their arm twitching on the ground as they focused.They tried to draw their arm closer to them, like it wasn’t displaced, as if they were just picking something up. They could feel their arm disperse and rush back towards them.

It took a couple of tries, but soon their arm was back on their body, no worse for wear.

“Shit!” They moved back at the sound of Yakumo cursing as the Lost swung its axe towards them again.

Kyo could see a stream of fire attack it from behind but the Lost’s focus was on them and them alone.

‘Must be the blood.’ Kyo thought, moving back. The Lost jumped at them again, but since they could see it, they had no problem dodging. 

Yakumo moved in to move it away from them, Louis trying to draw its attention. But the Lost was tall, towering over them all. It swung its blade, the radius of it engulfing all of them as they dodged.

It’s advantage of height allows it to keep an eye on them all. 

But… it’s still only one Lost. If everyone is not in its eyesight, then…

To get close is to get hit, Kyo knows that. Normally, this is something suited for Yakumo, but there’s a chance the Lost could see Yakumo coming since he’s slower. Louis, unfortunately, is way more fragile and he focuses on dodging around enemies. But if he were to get hit then there’s a chance that the Lost could kill him before Yakumo could go save him.

Even with its attention on them, it was mindful to keep the other two in sight, waiting to kill them all.

Kyo disappeared, appearing in front of the Lost. It tried to hit them, swinging its axe, ichor swarming the blade, but Kyo disappeared again, reforming behind the Lost. They raised their sword and slammed the handle hard into the back of the Lost’s knee.

The Lost’s skin was tough, even with Yakumo’s strength he only managed to cut the Lost’s limbs, but not enough to cut it off. 

So, let’s crush its joints inside that armor, make it hard for it to move. They swung their sword hard against the back of the other knee before moving away as it fell forward. 

Yakumo and Louis immediately attacked. Louis cutting the Lost up as much as he could while Yakumo was swinging his sword against the Lost with all his strength. Even then the Lost, still managed to get up.

‘Guess that armor is sturdier than expected.’ Kyo though, frowning.

They know they cracked the Lost’s knees. Usually, a revenant wouldn’t be able to get up without regenerating and pushing the bones back to their original position. 

The Lost jumped away, but it still kept its eyes on them. It raised its hand, ichor gathering.

Kyo tensed.

Was it about to summon another Lost?

It slammed its hand down, a wave of blood rushed towards them. It was easy enough to dodge. Kyo leaped out of the way of the blood. They waited for a rock to form, but the wave of blood died down without a worry.

The Lost screeched, Kyo turned to see that Yakumo and Louis had taken advantage of the Lost’s attention on them and killed it. They could see Yakumo’s sword buried deep in its chest.

Louis… was running towards them.

“Are you alright?!” He skidded to a stop in front of them.

“Ah, yes I’m fine.” It took Kyo a second to respond, but they nodded their head. Louis looked at them silently before turning away.

“We’re going back to the mistle.” 

“Huh?” Kyo glanced behind them. “But a bloodspring is right-”

“Let’s go.” Louis walked away without letting them finish their sentence. Kyo was stunned, they didn’t understand his attitude. But he was the leader of the group so they followed without a word.

As they walked back to the cave, they could see Yakumo coming over to join them.

Louis led them inside towards the mistle. He leaned against the wall like before, without a word. Kyo slowly sat down as Yakumo came up from behind them. He was silent for a while as well. 

Kyo assumes the reason as to why they went back here was to wait for them to heal. They can feel the mistle stitch back parts of their arm they didn’t manage to put back together along with soothing the aches from their bones being shattered under the weight of the axe.

“Hey.” Yakumo broke the silence. “You alright?”

Kyo nodded. Yakumo stared at them.

“You thirsty?” Kyo paused before shaking their head no. They had lost a lot of blood, but there was no dryness in their throat.

Yakumo turned his eyes back to Louis, noticing when he asked that question Louis had tightened his hand into a fist. Yakumo breathed out from his nose. Probably feeling guilty, he thought. 

This silence continued on before Kyo broke it.

“I’m alright now.” They said. “So, we can go to the bloodspring.”

“Are you sure?” Louis asked. “You don’t need to push yourself.”

Kyo nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

They reached over to grab their sword and stood. Louis watched them for any signs of pain or discomfort before pushing himself off the wall.

“Alright, let’s go.”

The walk back towards the bloodspring was quiet. They could feel Louis’ eyes on them as they walked. 

They understand his concern, they’re basically the ace for Louis so if they get hurt, it is a huge concern.

Still… they’re fine now, did he really think that lowly about them? 

His opinion on them didn’t matter, they just needed to do what they agreed to do.

Approaching the bloodspring, Kyo drew blood and like before the bloodspring came to life.

Louis quickly went and kneeled, pouring that mysterious substance. 

Kyo watched as the glowing light shine. 

But Louis stayed silent.

“What’s wrong?” Yakumo asked, sensing something was off. Louis glanced back to the bloodspring and ground.

“The Bloodvein here leads to the old city ruins.” Louis answered turning to Yakumo.

“Huh? Wait, hold on a second. Shouldn’t it lead from the old city ruins?” Yakumo gestured towards the ground in confusion. Louis fell silent, but that didn’t last long.

Distantly, Kyo could hear something.

“Singing?”

“Hey, look!” In front of them, a strange barrier... disappeared. 

The singing…

They’re… tired.

But… It's odd. That singing is… familiar somehow. 

They’re sure they don’t know the person who’s singing… but something…

Something… is resonating.

“Kyo?”

What is it?

What’s… calling out… to me?

They walked forward.

“Kyo!”

Louis moved to grab them when he noticed it.

Red eyes, again.

Not from activating any gifts. Louis gritted his teeth. 

Why are they acting like this?

Damnit, was it because of him- his mistake?

They looked fine; he didn’t see any signs of frenzy.

Did the mistle only dely this reaction?

If this really was a delayed reaction from the fight…

Damn it, he’s such a failure.

Kyo kept walking.

“Come on.” Yakumo said. “Let’s go.”

Louis could only nod. 

Kyo stopped when they saw two figures. They could dimly comprehend that there was a dead body between the two.

The woman… was the one singing.

Hm… 

The man… he was… something…

He had pulled something out of the dead body.

Louis and Yakumo… had rushed out in front of them.

“Careful.” Someone said. “That’s the hunter.”

Hunter… him?

That thing… in his hand.

He had pointed it… towards the woman.

** _Don’t. _ **

They narrowed their eyes.

“What are you-?”

He pushed it closer.

** _Don’t. If you do-_ **

** _If you do-! We’ll-_ **

** _She will-!_ **

“What are you doing?!”

** _Come back._ **

That thing was pushed into the woman, blood spurting everywhere.

She collapsed into the man’s arms. He cradled her… gently.

“I don’t know what the deal is but let go of the woman. Now.” Yakumo readied his sword. 

The man eyed them all as he slowly stood…

Why was that gaze-?

A red cloud engulfed him, and the woman and a strong gust of wind rushed by. 

…

And if the man couldn’t help but think that one of the strangers he encountered was familiar… he’d keep that to himself. Because, that was nothing more than a dream of the past.

...

“What?” Louis was the first to react. They all slowly walked forward, waiting to see if the man would attack them

“Where’d they go?”

“What just happened?” Louis asked as they reached the ashen body. 

It crumbled away… to reveal a vestige. Kyo reached a hand out-

“Wait!” And grabbed it… 

...but nothing happened…

They looked at the vestige in their hand.

“It’s… broken.”

It glowed a weak red light as it rested on their hand. 

Broken was the only term Kyo could use.

Vestiges were already spiked… but this one was smaller, its edges uneven.

Yakumo let out a sigh.

“Looks like we’re not getting anything out of that.” Kyo could only nod as they put it in their pocket.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Louis asked again. Kyo furred their brows.

“Yes.” They’re fine. 

Everything fell into silence. Kyo shifted from one foot to another before they couldn’t take it anymore.

“So, what now?” They asked. Louis turned to them.

“I’m still curious as to what the Hunter was doing, but we should focus on our own business.” Yakumo nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t get what’s going on, but we don’t have time to figure that out.”

They… were going to leave this alone?

A part of them… felt wrong to do that.

But… the Hunter was dangerous and... They can’t put anyone in danger.

They only nodded as they put their unease away.

They all moved back to the cave.

They all rested for a bit before they started climbing the ladder.

“We need to visit one more bloodspring.” Louis said as they walked on.

“It’s a place where miasma never goes away.” Yakumo said, looking at them. “With you around, we should be fine, but still, we have to be careful.”

Kyo could only nod. Yakumo turned back to Louis.

“So, any idea how we’re gonna get through that place?” Louis stopped.

“We can’t really do anything but walk forward through the mists-”

As the two talked Kyo just stood. 

Mists and miasma… how bad was-

They hear something… a quiet whisper of someone they don’t know.

And yet… 

And yet. 

They have to find him.

“What should we bring there?” Yakumo asked him.

“I don’t know how much has changed since we’ve been there, so it’s best to-”

He heard something break. They both turned, waiting to see if it was a Lost.

Instead they see Kyo, kneeling on the ground around broken pieces of wood.

“Kyo? Did you find-” 

Red eyes looked down at something in their hand.

“I see…” They whispered. Louis slowly moved closer and could see a red shine in their hand. “It must be around here somewhere.”

Kyo looked over to the side as they stood.

“Kyo?” Their last trace didn’t last as long so maybe-

They jumped.

“Wait!” Louis ran forward and saw that Kyo had landed on another hidden path. They walked forward without them. 

“Come on!” Yakumo jumped down, with Louis scrambling to follow.

Kyo was walking on such a thin path so confidently that he was almost worried that this person wasn’t Kyo.

Earlier, Kyo had walked so carefully. 

Something fired at them on the path.

“Damn, why here?!” A Lost with a bayonet was firing at them. One wrong step and they could fall to their deaths. 

The Lost fired again, but Kyo casually ducked underneath the bullet, before running straight at the Lost.

“Wait!” Louis tried to walk as fast as he could, he was _not_ running here, but instead he saw Kyo cut the arm off the Lost. It tried to swing at Kyo, but Kyo used the momentum to… kick it off the cliffside.

“What?” Louis only watched as Kyo looked down to make sure it had fallen before turning to climb up the ladder. 

“We have to follow them.” Yakumo said from behind. 

“Yeah.” Was all he said. 

Kyo was climbing up the ladder fast, skipping some rungs as they jumped up. 

“Kyo, wait!”

Louis, as soon as he reached solid ground, immediately climbed as fast as he could up the ladder. If he waited for Yakumo who knows where they would go.

He didn’t dare try to do the jumps that Kyo did, but he was rushing up the ladder in a haphazard way.

When he got up, he could see that this part of the land was connected to the earlier Lost nest. He could see that Kyo had ran around to kill the remaining stagnant Lost that was firing down from them earlier. 

Louis was afraid that after Kyo had killed it, they would jump back down and he’d either have to chase them down or stay until Yakumo gets up the ladder.

Instead, Kyo started to walk back over to him.

No, not to him, Louis realized. To the cave right next to him. 

He could hear Yakumo grunt as he got off the ladder, dragging his sword behind him. 

Kyo ignored them both and turned their attention towards the cave.

Louis heard a guttural growl.

As he was prepared to step in to fight, lightning crackled across Kyo’s fingertips. 

They threw the lightning and Louis could hear the Lost shriek. 

It stumbled out of the cave opening only to be greeted by Kyo’s sword lopping off its upper torso. 

Kyo walked on, ignoring them.

They stepped into the mouth of the cave and stopped.

On the other side Louis could see two Lost, one with a spear and the other a bayonet. 

Lightning crackled and Kyo fired at the bayonet wielder. As the other Lost charged at Kyo, fire was used this time to attack it before Kyo ran forward and cut both Lost in half. 

They walked on, ignoring the Lost and peeked over at the edges. 

“Kyo?” He knows it’s pointless to keep calling out to them when they’re like this, but he can’t just do nothing. 

Kyo walked back. Seems like there was nothing there.

They stopped.

They peeked over the edge and jumped.

Louis didn’t bother shouting as he ran to follow them, Yakumo running behind.

“Tsk.” He heard Yakumo click his tongue as they jumped into a rather tight cave. 

Kyo walked on. A Lost tried to shoot at them, but Kyo killed it easily.

Louis heard a growl from below and as he was prepared to warn them, Kyo merely kicked the Lost down towards its death.

They both followed Kyo as they continued on walking.

“Ah, so it looped.” He heard them say. 

Kyo jumped down and Louis could see that it was the path with the ladder from earlier.

Louis jumped down after them and climbed up the ladder as fast as he could, hoping Yakumo could catch up.

This Kyo won’t wait for them.

Kyo had gone back to the ship from earlier, jumping down the hidden path again.

This time, they went left.

From behind Louis could see that it was a rather thin cave path with two huge Lost resting inside.

“Hm?” Louis looked over to what Kyo was staring at.

A chest in rather good condition. But…

“I don’t think this is a good-” Kyo walked on. The closer Lost woke up. Louis tensed, prepared to fight. Thankfully, the other Lost wasn’t disturbed. 

The Lost ran forward, swinging it’s spear wildly. Kyo only fired random projectiles at it until it swung itself close to the cliffs edge, where Kyo slammed the handle of their sword against it, causing it to fall. 

“The difference is night and day…” He heard Yakumo say from behind. Louis had to agree. 

If this is Kyo before they lost their memories, he couldn’t help but wonder who they were… and how they managed to lose their memories. 

Kyo turned to the other Lost, this time actually running forward to attack it before it got up.

Louis moved closer, but didn’t attack, he didn’t want to cause trouble for this Kyo.

Since the ground here was wider, Kyo seemed more comfortable moving around and attacking the Lost. 

This Lost’s attacks were just as wild. It moved itself closer to the edge and stopped.

This time, Kyo stabbed it and cut through the chest, killing it.

With nothing in their way Kyo went to look at the chest.

They opened it, clicked their tongue and walked away. 

Yakumo was always a bit curious, so he went over to see what was inside.

“A weapon.” Was all he said. Louis nodded in acknowledgement before turning to follow Kyo. 

And that was how they spent the next few moments, following Kyo around as they found hidden paths and chests. The Lost didn’t swarm, so Kyo was able to handle it, much to his relief. 

“We could take this back to Murasame when we have the chance.” He heard Yakumo say as they followed the ever so silent Kyo. Louis merely let out a grunt.

Murasame was to trade and build weapons, seeing new things like what they, or Kyo, had found would help her greatly.

Kyo killed a shield wielding Lost by running around and stabbing it through the back with their bloodveil. 

Louis tilted his head, narrowing his eyes.

As far as he knows, attacking like that was risky and had a high chance for error and yet Kyo, this Kyo, had done it multiple times.

Kyo… who are you?

That Lost was guarding a ladder that Kyo wasted no time in jumping down. 

They both followed.

This cave split, but Louis could see a chest on the left. As Kyo approached it, they paused and looked over at the right.

“Hm? Why are you in a place-?”

They jumped back from an attack. Louis tensed. 

White armor.

A golden sword.

“Cerberus?!” But the armor didn’t respond and let out a deep laughter.

“No, Lost.” Yakumo stated, moving into a fighting stance, Louis following.

This is bad. They’re in a cave so Yakumo can’t swing his sword as much.

He can’t either, but he can move around better than Yakumo.

Not only that… Cerberus was full of highly trained warriors. If one joined the Lost, no doubt it would be a powerful one and he’s not sure that Kyo would be able to fight without getting severely injured.

“I see. Then let me put you out of your misery.” He heard Kyo say.

Lightning crackled and Kyo fired. The Cerberus Lost stumbled but started to gather ichor.

Kyo managed to fire two more projectiles, before jumping back when the Lost lunged forward to attack. 

Louis rushed through the opening and quickly slashed at the Lost while its attention was on Kyo. 

After a few hits, it turned to Louis and Yakumo ran forward to cut down on the Lost. He can’t swing his sword around, but he still should be able to get a few good hits in.

The weight of Yakumo’s sword crushed the Lost’s armor, but it was getting back up.

Yakumo placed his sword in front of him to guard any upcoming attacks when lightning crackled through the Lost. 

It let out a groan as it dispersed. 

Louis turned to look at Kyo and stopped.

Kyo was staring at the two of them, eyes still red. But… it seems that Kyo was actually noticing them now, rather than just moving on and ignoring the duo.

They tilted their head and walked over to where the Cerberus Lost was.

“What were you guarding?” He heard them say.

He could see Kyo kneel to pick something up.

They looked over it, turned to Louis, and threw something.

“Here.” Louis caught it. It was a small silver box. He opened it and the contents made him widen his eyes.

“This is-?!” Yakumo whistled.

Medicine. Not only that, high level medecine meant for revenants. 

He looked over at the label.

CS-256.

If… if he remembers right then this could help revenants regenerate more so that they wouldn’t have to strain themselves as much.

Kyo hummed, before moving to look over the chest.

They opened it, before walking away.

“Wait.” Louis called out to them. Earlier, Kyo didn’t bother to look at them, but now maybe they could answer some questions while they’re like this.

They turned to him, tilting their head.

And all of a sudden, Louis couldn’t speak… No that isn’t right, it’s more like he didn’t know what to ask.

“Do… Do you know who you are?”

Kyo looked over at him with a disinterested stare before turning away.

“Wait!” He called out again, moving closer to them. “Do-do you know about your powers!? To revitalize mistles and bloodsprings?!”

This gave them pause and they turned back to Louis, eyes showing a hint of confusion. 

“Revitalize mistles?” They asked. He nodded and here he could see them narrow their eyes.

“You already know, don’t you? Only the Queen’s blood can do that. If you want to revitalize mistles go look for the medicine made with the Queen’s blood.”

At that they turned away again, but Louis was determined.

“No, I’m talking about you and your blood.” Kyo turned back to him. “Your blood can revitalize mistles and bloodsprings; so, if you remember something-anything that would help. Please, do you-”

“I already said that you need medicine made from the Queen’s…” They trailed off and Louis was anxious. Did they remember something, he thought. 

Instead, Kyo doubled over, holding their head in pain.

“Kyo!” 

“Shit!” Even though this Kyo didn’t know him, he rushed over anyway.

“My head-why?!” He kneeled down next to them and saw the red glow in their eyes grow stronger. 

“Kyo!” He could see Yakumo move closer as well, unsure of what to do.

“I…” Kyo started. Louis went silent.

“I-I have…”

“What is it?”

“I-I have to complete… my task.” Suddenly, the red glow died down, just a bit, and Kyo stood back up. “I… I have to find it.”

And Kyo walked away from them both, not noticing either of their attempts to get their attention. 

“Damnit, was I too hasty?” Louis couldn’t help but ask. Yakumo sighed.

“Come on, we better follow. If this gets worse…” Louis nodded.

“Yeah.”

Louis kept a closer eye on Kyo and their surroundings. This time Kyo moved slower so he could easily get rid of any Lost.

He didn’t want Kyo to strain themself anymore when they’re like this.

They were close to where they entered when Kyo finally stopped.

“There.” Louis looked up at an opening and he could faintly see an ominous energy, one he’s seen before.

“Is that… a vestige piece?” He remembered that Kyo was holding one when this episode started. 

Was the vestige the cause?

“How do I… get up there?” They asked themself. “How do I…”

Their body leaned forward.

“Kyo!” He moved to catch them when their hand shot out against the wall. They stumbled but when they looked back up, their eyes were silver once more. 

“Kyo?” He talked to them in a gentler way, making sure not to scare them.

“Where… where am I?” Kyo looked around them. “How did I- wait isn’t the way back?”

“Welcome back.” Yakumo said to them. 

“Huh?”

“Kyo.” Louis stepped in so that they wouldn’t get more confused. “What do you remember?”

Kyo furrowed their brows.

“I- I heard something. A voice.” At that they reached up to their vest pocket, pulling out two vestige pieces. “Ah, that’s right. I picked this up and…”

They clenched their hand.

“I’m sorry.” They said, looking over at him. “I don’t remember anything after that.”

Louis fell into deep thought.

The vestige caused them to fall into a trace. Earlier, with his vestige, that didn’t happen. 

They had fallen into a trace when meeting the Hunter.

And when in critical danger too, for the first time at least.

Right now, there are too many variables.

But… if Kyo could remember something…

“Kyo do you know about medicine made from the Queen’s blood?”

At his question, Kyo only showed a confused expression.

So no, then.

What was it then?

If Kyo in that state could remember something like that, what was stopping them from remembering what happened afterwards?

This could be related to how they lost their memories… but there was no way he would be able to find out the answer to that.

As they stood there in silence, Yakumo chimed in.

“Since you were looking around for that, why don’t we go and get it?”

“Hm?” Kyo looked over at Yakumo with a puzzled expression.

“You were searching for the vestige piece.” Louis explained. “Do you want to go get it?”

“Ah, no, it’s fine.” Kyo waved their hands, flustered. “I already caused so much trouble, we don’t have to.”

“Taking a detour isn’t that bad, we could even find some clues.” Louis said. Here, Kyo raised a brow. 

Louis… wasn’t surprised. He had been going on about how they needed to go about their business and now he was saying that it was fine to stop.

Well, not stop, but maybe help figure some things out. 

It might even help in the long run.

“Then… where do we go?” Kyo asked, coinciding.

“Oh, you’re gonna lead us.” Yakumo said. Kyo slowly blinked. 

“Me?”

“You might not remember, but it seems you have a talent for scouting.” Louis answered. Yakumo nodded.

“You should’ve seen yourself; running around and jumping down places, finding things like it was nothing.” Louis was thankful Yakumo didn’t mention Kyo’s shift in combat abilities, that might cause them more worry. 

A revenant’s blood type is everything; in terms of combat this also gives insight to who that person is.

Well, during squabbles against other revenants, personality was the last thing on somebody's mind, but who a person is is reflected in their blood.

“Er… right…” Kyo could only helplessly absorb the information about themself. 

“When you’re ready, you can lead the way.” Louis said. Kyo only nodded, their face troubled. 

Louis was a bit torn.

He didn’t want Kyo to be disturbed… but if this is something that can help them in the end, then it’s not a bad idea to test that out. 

Kyo glanced back up at the vestige piece before looking away.

They stayed silent for a while before they started to walk. 

There was a cave right next to the opening, so it was natural that Kyo would want to go look there first.

They walked up the thin path, looking for a way that could lead them up.

They didn’t find any.

Kyo stopped and walked back.

While they were doing this both Yakumo and Louis were keeping an eye out on them, to see if they would fall back into a trance.

“Hm?” Kyo was back to the entrance where they came in, looking down. “There’s something down there.”

Kyo moved to jump down when they froze, turning to look at the duo. 

“It’s alright.” Louis said. “Go and we’ll follow.”

Kyo shifted on their feet before nodding; turning around and jumping down. Louis could hear a thump as they landed on solid ground.

He walked over to the edge and saw Kyo moving back for him. 

He jumped down and gestured for Kyo to move back so Yakumo could jump down without any incidents. 

“This place is connected in a weird way.” Was all Yakumo said when he jumped down. Louis couldn’t help but agree.

It didn’t look like these caves formed naturally and there were government made ladders here. 

And that Cerberus Lost...

What was this place being used for?

They both followed Kyo as they walked on. At the end of the path, Louis could see another ladder.

“Do you… hear that?” Kyo asked. 

That was all the warning they got before a Lost ran out from around the corner.

“Damn! Kyo move back!” It was a large grey Lost with an axe that charged at them without hesitation. Kyo on the other hand ran forward and ducked under the Lost’s swings.

The Lost turned its attention to Kyo, leaving it’s back open. 

Yakumo can’t attack him unless Louis could sidestep around him, but he did not want to try that.

Louis fired a stream of flames at the Lost. It stumbled but was still rushing towards Kyo.

“Shit, how do we fight like this?!” He heard Yakumo say.

The Lost started to swing its axe at Kyo. Kyo moved back as the blade bounced off the walls and floor. They reached the indent in the cave where the ladder was. The Lost turned towards Kyo and raised its axe.

Kyo fired a streak of flames at its face before running forward… and slamming the handle of their sword against the Lost’s chest.

The force applied was enough to cause the Lost to stumble back and… slip right of the edge. 

That rather familiar style of fighting Lost gave him pause.

“Oh, that worked, I’m glad…” Kyo trailed off. Louis rushed up to them, checking them over.

“What were you thinking, when you did that?” Louis hoped he didn’t sound demanding, but… this could be a breakthrough of Kyo regaining something back, even if it was just fighting.

“Oh… it was… nothing much, really.” Kyo said. “Killing it would waste more time… so I thought why not just push it off, basically?”

They trailed off in a question. Seems like it was a spur of the moment thing. 

“I see… well let’s continue then.” Kyo hummed, before shifting their gaze behind the corner. “What is it?”

“I just… want to see what’s behind there.” Kyo said. Louis nodded to show his approval and followed Kyo around the corner.

There lay another chest, a bit rusty, but it could still be opened easily.

“It’s just a sword.” Kyo said. Louis nodded and moved back towards the ladder.

“Why don’t you go first.” He said. Kyo shifted around, before nodding. As they climbed up, Louis noted that they didn’t do the jumps that the… other self did.

He went next and he could hear Yakumo following up behind him. When he got up, he noticed Kyo was staring down to the right, ignoring the Lost in front of them.

“Kyo?” Luckily, the Lost didn’t seem to notice them. Kyo turned to him with a questioning look. “What are you looking at?”

“There are three paths.” Kyo said. 

“I see.” Louis waited until Yakumo climbed up, before speaking with him. “Can you handle that one?”

“Yeah.” Kyo and Louis moved out of the way. The cave was still rather small for Yakumo, but the Lost had a shield, something that Kyo and Louis couldn’t get around. That only leaves Yakumo. 

The Lost noticed Yakumo and put its big shield in front of it. It was holding a spear, so it already had a huge advantage.

Yakumo swung his sword as hard as he could, trying to push the shield away. It took a couple of tries but soon the Lost’s arm gave way and it died under Yakumo’s sword.

“Huh, that was easier than I thought.” Yakumo placed his sword back on his shoulder. 

“So, where do you want to go first?” Louis asked. 

“I’d like to check out this one first.” Kyo said, pointing straight ahead. Louis nodded. 

There was another purple Lost up ahead, but it was facing away from them, so it was easy to take out.

“It leads back to the path from earlier.” Kyo said.

“Then, where would you like to go next?” Kyo looked down.

“The right.”

There was a government ladder here too, Louis noticed.

As they climbed down, Louis could see a Lost resting at the end of the path. Since it wasn’t paying attention…

“Let me.” He whispered. Kyo nodded.

He snuck up as quietly as he could. When he was close enough, he unleashed a flurry of slashes.

It died before it could even stand. Louis looked down.

There was no path, all he saw was an empty chasm. He looked up.

“It’s close to where we came in from, from the elevator.” He clarified.

Kyo nodded. 

“Then the left path is the only one.”

They all climbed up and rested close to the entrance of the remaining cave. 

Looking around, there were three Lost; all big and close to the entrance.

If they all jumped down, they would be swarmed.

He notices Kyo looking at one particular Lost.

“What is it?” 

“That one has a bayonet.” Was sall they said. Louis turned to see that there was one, resting beside the Lost.

“What do you want to do?” Kyo stayed silent, pondering. 

“Let me try to draw it’s attention.” Kyo said. “If it moves closer then maybe it can be taken out before the others notice.”

Louis nodded. He watched as Kyo gathered ichor into their hands, heating it up to turn it to flames. He looked back towards the Lost.

A yelp and a crackle sounded out. 

He quickly turned back to Kyo, noticing the fire had died.

“What is it?”

“The fire it-”

“It turned to lightning.” Yakumo explained, eyes wide. Louis widened his eyes. 

The other Kyo had used lightning… could it be?

“Can you do it again?” He asked. Kyo looked down at their hands.

Ichor gathered, heating up into flames. However, Kyo kept it in their hands and soon Louis could hear crackling as the flames slowly morphed into lightning. 

“I couldn’t do this before, why?” He heard Kyo mumble. He thought back to the other Kyo, who had used lightning so easily.

He had already theorized muscle memory for the existence of the other Kyo.

If he follows that train of thought, then maybe… maybe the other Kyo’s existence was helping Kyo relearn their abilities; or some of them at least. 

But what draws out that reaction?

No, he can ponder that later.

“Try using it on the Lost.” He instructed. Kyo looked at him, eyes uncertain, before nodding.

They focused on the Lost and threw the lightning at it.

It pierced through the Lost, but Louis could tell that this lightning was… sloopy. The other Kyo’s lightning projectile was cleaner, more condensed, but that’s alright. 

This was good enough, he won’t blame Kyo for something they don’t remember. The Lost got up with a growl. Luckily, it didn’t draw the attention of the others.

The red Lost looked over before turning away and the other purple Lost sat still.

But this Lost had seen them. It grabbed its bayonet. Louis fired his own flames and another lightning projectile killed it.

They all stood still, waiting to see if the other Lost would notice.

They didn’t.

“Let’s try again with the other one.” Louis gestured towards the other purple Lost that was close by. 

The Lost was taken down in a similar way.

Now all that was left was the red one.

“Alright then, leave this to me!” Yakumo said, standing up. Louis nodded.

This situation is ideal for Yakumo. One enemy a wide area to swing his sword around… Yakumo also likes a good fight every now and then. 

Yakumo jumped down, imminently drawing the attention of the red Lost.

Spinning around, Yakumo threw the Lost down and the rest is history. 

Louis and Kyo jumped down as the Lost dissipated. 

“It’s over there.” Yakumo said. Louis could see the vestige piece on the floor.

Kyo ran over and picked it up.

Pulling out the other two, they pieced it together. 

Louis could see how they fit together, but in the end nothing happened. 

Kyo let out a sigh.

“Sorry for leading you guys around on a pointless chase.”

“It’s fine.” Louis said. “Come on, let’s go back.”

The walk back to the mistle was quiet with everyone thinking about a thing or two.

As they sat around the mistle, Louis could see Kyo’s eyes droop.

“Are you tired?” He asked. Kyo shook their head.

“I’m fine.” He can see their exhaustion. They were fine until they sat down. Perhaps it was adrenaline that kept them going, he mused.

But he could see that Kyo was losing the fight.

“It’s fine, Kyo. It’s not bad to take a break every once and awhile.” He coaxed. Perhaps, that was all they needed as they shut their eyes. 

“Out like a light, huh?” Yakumo said, looking over at them. Louis agreed.

Kyo was already breathing deeply, showing that they were in a deep sleep.

“I think they deserve some rest.” He said. Yakumo hummed.

It was quiet for a while, until he broke it.

“So,” he started. “What do you think of them?”

Kyo was an oddity. Even more so when they both considered what happened today.

The trances.

Their combat ability.

“I’m not gonna lie. I still think they’re suspicious.” Yakumo said. 

Louis went to disagree, when Yakumo looked over at him.

“I’m pretty sure they don’t wanna hurt us… but, Louis, this is all very suspicious.”

“...I know.” He relented. He knows it was suspicious, but he was sure Kyo was a kind person. He can’t ease away Yakumo’s concerns, especially when they’re valid. 

He let the matter drop, his thoughts turning back to today, analyzing them.

The first matter was the blood vein. 

It had led back to the old city ruins.

Louis only knows of three blood springs. The first one had led out here, which is what he expected, but this one looped around.

He’ll have to look at the last one before jumping to conclusions, but this… did not look good. 

He was hoping to use the blood springs positions and then go track where each blood vein would lead.

Had the blood vein in this area lead further ahead rather than back to the old city ruins, he could’ve calculated where to go next. 

All that’s left is the blood spring down in the pit… 

With that his thoughts turned back to Kyo and how he had failed to help them again.

He swore to protect them since he was dragging them around but… they almost died again.

Had they not moved… that axe would have split them in two.

He was supposed to be the leader and he can't account for the third party _he_ brought along?

That was laughable had it not put them in danger…

…

“So, when do you wanna go?” Yakumo asked him. 

“...It’s almost night.” He answered. “Let them rest.”

“Even if it lasts the whole night?”

“Yes.”

His mission was moving forward, but he keeps failing as a leader.

So, rest Kyo. And when they wake up, he’ll push himself to do better.

They have already brought hope to this prison by just agreeing to help him, so let him do better to be worthy of that trust. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, why can't the player kick things? Mido's goons kick my ass with their foot, why can't I do the same? Also we can see Jack do it in a cut scene so why?
> 
> Second, I think it's bull that they locked lightning spike behind the season pass so... here Kyo could already use it.
> 
> Third, I have no idea what this game wants me to capitalize. It won't capitalize blood beads but will capitalize Bloodveins?
> 
> The heck?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyo learns how to do laundry.

They were running…. From what or where they didn’t know. 

They were fighting.

They were-

They were…

“-yo!” 

Who… is it?

…

…

They have the _worst_ headache right now. 

They groaned and sat up, putting a hand to their forehead. 

“Kyo?!”

“Mhn…” Damnit, the yelling made it worse.

“Are you alright!” Someone was right next to them.

“Don’t…”

“Wha-”

“Don’t… yell…” At their weak request, it went quiet.

They massaged their temples, hoping to reduce the pain as they curled up into a ball.

It took some time, but slowly the pain faded. 

They slowly opened their eyes.

Louis was next to them, looking them over.

“Are you alright?” He asked. Kyo rubbed their temples before nodding.

“Yes.”

“You sure?” Yakumo asked, looking serious. “You slept till noon.”

“...Eh?” They looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining down. It rested right in the middle of the sky, at the zenith. “I was… for that long?”

When they shut their eyes yesterday… it had barely gotten dark.

And now…

“Why?” They asked themself. They were tired yesterday… but it shouldn’t have been to this extent. 

“... Yesterday was quite hectic, there’s no surprise that you were tired.” Yakumo shot Louis a look.

Kyo stayed quiet before nodding.

“I suppose…” Louis looked them over before looking away.

“Whenever you feel ready, we’ll leave.”

“...Yes…” Kyo closed their eyes to massage their head.

...They can tell something happened. But whatever it was will not be revealed to them.

They can’t help but think about their traces from yesterday…

Did that have something to do with how long they slept?

In the end, these questions are meaningless, they won’t find the answer. 

They waited until they were sure the headache was gone before looking over at the duo.

“I’m fine now.” Louis looked them over.

“Are you sure?” They nodded.

“Yes.” They reached over and grabbed their sword. “Once again, I apologize for taking up so much time.”

“No, if anything I have to apologize for failing you.” Louis said to comfort them. Kyo stared at him for a few seconds.

“No… I-”

“Alright, time to head out!” Yakumo got up and heaved his sword onto his shoulder.

...Kyo can’t help but wonder if he knew that they saw the look he sent to Louis right after.

Louis stayed silent, before nodding.

“Let’s go.” They all walked back to the elevator. Everything was silent again as the elevator rose. They can see Yakumo looking at them from the corner of his eye, which Kyo ignores. 

Louis also seems to be thinking about something which added to the tense atmosphere. The elevator jerked as it reached the top. The doors opened and Kyo turned their head at the boxes.

“Looks like she’s gone.” Louis was also looking over.

“... I see… What was on the card you gave her?” Kyo asked, looking over to him.

“It was a Cerberus checkpoint.” Kyo furred their brows. 

It… it was close by, right? Even if the human had managed to run around the ruins somewhat fine, it doesn’t mean that she was unharmed.

Come to think… she was pretty scratched up; they remember her fingers were tinted with her blood.

They had thought it was because of how she had been treated by the revenant from before… but she just as easily could’ve been attacked while running away. 

“…”

“Let’s go.” Their train of thought was cut off as Louis walked ahead. Yakumo stepped out of the elevator, looked back at them and jerked his head. Kyo followed. 

The trip back around the city ruins wasn’t a huge problem. There were a few straggling Lost, but everything was calm.

Louis led them to a hole in the ground. Looking down Kyo could see thorns piercing through the ground.

“This way.”

Louis led the group down the ladder. As they all walked over to the tunnel, Louis could see that the elevator had been used. He watched as Yakumo walked over and pulled the switch. 

Oddly enough, the elevator didn’t work.

Yakumo tried again, with the same result.

Louis frowned. Why was it not working?

He remembers that it should work, even if it had been some time since he used it.

But, if he can’t use it...

“The only way down would be…” Louis turned to the hole.

...To jump down. 

It was reckless. 

He turned to Kyo, looking over their bloodstained self... remembering what had happened this morning. 

_He tried to shake them awake, but they did not budge._

_“Kyo.” He tried again. But they did not move._

_“What’s wrong with them?” Yakumo asked from behind._

_He doesn’t know… _

_He could see their eyes flickering behind the lids and their brows were furrowed. _

_He shook them harder._

_Is it a nightmare?_

_The shaking seemed to wake them up._

_And Louis found himself staring at red eyes._

_Louis jumped back with Yakumo rushing to stand, sword in hand._

_Why?_

_Why is this Kyo here?_

_… They didn’t move._

_Their eyes staring blank ahead as Louis slowly approached them._

_“Kyo?” He asked. Would they talk to him this time? _

_They turned to him; gaze unfocused._

_And they fell over, holding their chest._

_“What’s wrong!” He ran over to check them over._

_Was it frenzy?_

_No, the mistle should stop any signs if only for a moment a huge reaction like this wouldn’t happen this fast. Right?_

_Their eyes, even while pained, were blank as they stared ahead._

_A few agonizing moments passed, and he could see them slowly get worse._

_Breathing became more labored, their grip on their chest tightened, and he could see their knuckles turn white._

_After a while they finally opened their mouth to speak._

_“So, this is what dying feels like.”_

_At that sentence, they closed their eyes, unresponsive to him and Yakumo._

_That’s when the fever started._

_And it lasted… an achingly long time._

_It scared him. No matter what he did, Kyo did not wake and their fever wouldn’t break._

_He felt numb… were they dying?_

_Was it his fault again?_

_He did this, he pushed them too far._

_But… thankfully-**thankfully**, the fever eventually broke._

_It took a few more hours until they woke up, but he was too relieved to care._

He was not pushing them any harder.

“What now?” Yakumo asked.

“We’re going back, I’ll have to ask Coco for some supplies.” Jumping down a pit with no safety net?

He did not even want to entertain the idea.

“You got it.” Yakumo took the news nonchalantly. 

He looked over to Kyo and saw that their eyebrows were furrowed.

…Were they still thinking of the human?

He had noticed them deep in thought after they had come back.

Of course, it could be lingering effects from the fever, but Kyo had fought fine, so he rejected that conclusion for now.

Hopefully with everyone at base, he’ll be able to relax for a bit and try to think about what he had discovered.

The walk back to the base was silent. Kyo looked over at the other two. They were focused ahead, even though the way back was void of Lost now.

Though… They weren’t surprised.

If they understood the context… their mission-rather Louis and Yakumo’s mission had hit an unexpected roadblock, even without that elevator not working.

What would they do now?

Kyo knows that they were just there as a tool, they had no real goal in assisting Louis and Yakumo. 

Of course… they want to help… but, as of now…

They’re weak.

Both physically and mentally. 

They already know that they were lacking in physical prowess… but looking at the vestiges they had seen…

It was obvious that they were lacking elsewhere.

Sadness, guilt, despair… 

When they were with Oliver… they didn’t feel any of those… They might have felt rage and annoyance at the captors, felt worried about the other prisoners… but they were passive with their feelings, a numbing acceptance at the world they woke up in. And with Oliver’s death and the vestiges... there was a dawning understanding… that perhaps they should have felt more.

Sadness at their lost memories, perhaps.

Despair at the state of the world they woke up in, maybe…

But… there was nothing, nothing major.

They felt something towards Oliver, when he died… they think its guilt… but what they were feeling felt nothing like Louis and Oliver’s guilt.

They had felt… pity at the young human woman, worried about her… but nothing else. Perhaps there was a desire to sympathize and comfort… but, from what they had seen… maybe they should have done more. Helped more.

They… need to do more… of what they don’t know yet. To fight and grow stronger was a given… but what else? To help them be… 

To be...

“We’re here.”

They snapped out of their thoughts to see the church up ahead. 

Even though it has been about a day, it seemed like they hadn’t seen it in so long. Its presence was strange to them. 

Well, it’s not surprising… Even now, it was nothing more than a place to rest. They could not draw any real comfort in being there.

As they approached the door-

“Wait, Io!” A voice called out.

Alarmed, Louis and Yakumo rushed to open the door. Inside Kyo could see Murasame and Io.

Murasame was trying to move Io away from the weapons that were on the rack. Io, meanwhile, was focusing her attention to a toolbox.

At the sound of the door opening, the both of them turned towards the returning group.

“Eh, you guys are back so soon?” Murasame let go of Io, once it was clear that she wouldn’t move around.

“There were some unexpected obstacles.” Louis answered.

“Oh, what do you mean obsta-_what happened_?!” Murasame was looking at Kyo with wide eyes. 

Oh. That’s right. 

They were…

“I was careless, it’s my fault. I’m fine” They said. Io had already run up to them and was clutching at their arm, looking them over with a wide-eyed frantic gaze.

“Are you sure?! The amount of blood-!”

“Murasame.” She stopped. Yakumo walked over to her.

“It’s alright, breath.” At Yakumo’s tone, Murasame slowly calmed down, but she still looked over them with a worried expression.

“Murasame, how long do you think the repairs will take?” Louis asked. Murasame tore her gaze away to look at Louis.

“Um…” Here she looked over the weapons and blood veils. “About a day or two…” 

Louis nodded before turning to Kyo.

“If you have anything in them, you should remove it before giving it to her.”

Ah. the vestiges. 

Kyo nodded. 

“Then, I’ll put it away first.” They said. They went to move, but Io still had her grip on them. She looked up at them and Kyo softened at her gaze. They reached up a hand and slowly patted her head. “I’m fine, really. It’s okay.”

She was still staring at them, but she relented. 

Now free, Kyo patted her head once more before turning away to go to their room.

* * *

It turns out they had quite a few items in their blood veil.

Besides the vestiges, they had found a blood-stained stake and a bottle of… something. Why they had these items, they don’t remember.

As they were putting up the items, they caught a glimpse of themself in the mirror. The blood had seeped into their shirt.

It wasn’t that surprising, but it made them look… horrible.

Blood had stained the front, with a darker stain more prominent on their neck.

They remember that Murasame was staring at them when they came in… if they walked out like this…

That’s when they noticed it. 

Boxes… in the corner of the room.

They went to open it to find… 

Clothes.

“Huh?”

It was clothes… of course there was a lot… and some looked a bit odd, but…

They found a plain white shirt.

Stripping the bloodstained one off, they put the new one on.

It was an alright fit.

With nowhere to put the bloody shirt, Kyo just placed into a corner.

Grabbing the blood veil and sword, Kyo went to open the door to see Murasame waiting.

“Oh.”

An awkward silence fell.

“Do… do you want me to bring it to the shop?” Kyo asked.

“No, it’s fine. You should get some rest.” Kyo shook their head.

“It’s fine, I was planning on staying awake for a while.”

“Oh…” It went silent again, before Kyo broke it.

“May I… ask you a question?” Murasame was stunned, but quickly nodded.

“Oh, um. Sure.”

“Io… were you… keeping her company?”

“Oh, yes!” Murasame nodded, before a meek look replaced it. “Are you upset? I know that I’m new and I’m very suspicious so of course it’s alright that you don’t trust-”

“I’m not upset.” Kyo cut off her rambling as kindly as they could. “Rather… Thank you… She must be lonely, and she might’ve caused some trouble for you.”

“Oh… no. I don’t mind, see it’s always quiet around here when everyone goes off to explore so I don’t mind the company and I’m glad she’s so curious when before she was so quiet and it’s nice to have- and I’m rambling again…”

Murasame cut herself off, looking sheepish.

“It’s alright. I must be taking up your time so once again, thank you for keeping her company.”

They don’t know why, but Murasame looked at them with a muted expression.

“Are you… really okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” They thought to how they might’ve looked to her; all bloodied. Was she disturbed? 

Kyo wondered what they should do.

“If that’s the case, then I’m glad, really glad.”

“Hm?” Kyo wasn’t sure they heard right.

“Come on, let’s go repair your stuff!” Doing a one-eighty in mood, Murasame smiled and moved out of the hall.

“Oh, alright.” Kyo didn’t have time to ponder what Murasame had said and walked to the workshop.

Louis walked up to them once Murasame walked into her shop with their equipment.

“What is it?” They asked. His face was impassive, but Kyo could sense that he was uneasy about something.

“If it’s alright with you, can I take some more samples of your blood?”

“... Alright.”

They both walked to his desk and as Louis was rummaging for a knife…

“Io? What is it?” Io had rushed up to their side, standing close. She didn’t say anything but was staring intently at Louis. 

Louis had also stopped and was looking at Io.

She didn’t say anything.

Eventually, Louis turned back to his task, but he was noticeably slower in moving.

The knife came into view and Io moved closer.

“Io?” They looked over to her. 

She didn’t say anything.

“Your hand, please.” Louis reached out his hand, waiting. As they rested the back of their hand onto his, Io went to clutch their arm.

“Io?” Here Io finally looked up at them. Her eyes trailed down to their hand in Louis’ grasp.

Here, Kyo had an epiphany.

The way she ran up to them.

The way she clutched at them.

“Io, are you scared?”

“Hm?”

“Scared?” Io spoke, testing out the word on her tongue. 

Louis froze. 

Scared?

He had thought that she was trying to protect Kyo with the way she was watching him. No… she still could be, but clutching at Kyo, standing close to them…

She was scared of him? Of what he was doing?

“Don’t worry.” Louis spoke. “It will just be a small cut.”

He didn’t want to do this in front of Io, but he needed to test Kyo to see if something was wrong.

The fever from today among other things, he has to make sure they’re alright.

Because he still needs them, their power, in order to fix everything.

Io didn’t say anything.

Neither a confirmation nor denial, Louis moved.

As slowly as he could, he dragged the knife across Kyo’s palm.

It took a few seconds until the blood started to seep through the cut, by then Louis tilted Kyo’s hand so that the blood would run into a vial.

Through the process, Io stared unblinking at the bleeding hand. Up until Louis placed cotton on the wound and put up the vial.

As he went to grab the gauze, Kyo turned to Io.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, right?”

Io stared at them, only to turn her attention back to their hand when Louis started to wrap it up.

As soon as Louis finished, Io reached out to grab their hand, staring at it intently.

She stayed silent. 

Was she bothered by the fact they were hurt?

Kyo reached their other hand up to pat her head, drawing her attention.

“Come on, let’s go sit down.”

Kyo led Io back to her bed. She sat down, but still clutched at their wrist. In the end, Kyo sat down as well.

Io seemed to take comfort in that. Her shoulders relaxed and her gaze started to wonder as she fell into thought.

Kyo had nothing to do, so they also looked around.

“Hm?” On Io’s metal bed frame. Pictures were stuck onto it… No, they know what these things are…

“Are these… stickers?” It wasn’t just pictures. Kyo could see stickers with random numbers and places.

“Do you… dislike it?” Io asked, in her quiet voice.

“No, I’m just curious.” They replied. Io accepted their answer and turned her attention back to… whatever she was looking at.

They sat in silence for a while, before Kyo turned to Io.

“Who gave these to you?” Io blinked before replying.

“Murasame and Coco.”

“I see.” Murasame they could understand… but the woman, Coco… they didn’t expect that from her. 

It went silent again.

Kyo decided to focus on something else.

As they were looking around, they felt Io’s gaze turn over to them.

They turned back to Io.

“What is it?” She looked on blankly. Before her gaze moved to their arm.

“Are you alright?” The arm she was looking at was not the one that Louis had cut earlier.

Ah, that arm was the one that was…

“Yes, I’m fine.” 

She still stared at them, but Kyo could feel her grip on their wrist tighten as she turned away.

They wondered what she was feeling.

She had stayed at an unknown area while they had to go out. And in the end, they had come back bloodied, much more than the others. 

They still don’t know what her relation is to them… but she must have been scared when she saw them. But… they can’t just tell her that they had almost died… that would worry her even more.

And so, the silence continued. 

They hope that at least… this would give her some comfort.

* * *

Louis glanced over at Io, who was now resting.

It had just become night and Kyo had suddenly felt tired, so they decided to go rest.

Io had let them go, but her gaze followed them as they left.

Once again, he pondered… if she was his sister.

When he had woken up… all he had was a ring and a letter from Karen. And with the memories he saw yesterday.

She died…

He killed her…

Sister… I’m sorry.

At times looking at Io reminds him… that his sister had to become a revenant to give him this ring… but that left him with other thoughts as to why he hasn’t seen her.

There was a chance she was turned to ash, looking at the state of this world.

There was a chance she had turned Lost.

There was a chance… she died so many times that she lost her memories.

She had wanted to be a nurse, just like Father, if he remembers right.

So, she wouldn’t be scared like Io was, when he was drawing blood earlier… but if she lost her memories, who knows what personality she would develop.

Io didn’t sound like Karen, but… who knows… physical attributes could be changed as Davis has told him.

Davis, who’s eye changed color from almost becoming Lost… what else could happen to someone who almost became lost?

His thoughts are wandering.

He needs to snap out of it.

If Io is or isn’t Karen… Isn’t Sister, it doesn’t matter. 

He will take care of her.

He turned back to his work, looking at Kyo’s blood.

He remembers what that Kyo had said.

Medicine made with the Queen’s blood.

If only he had a sample of it to compare.

No, it’s obvious that there should be a connection… but if he could only verify it…

And that’s not all…

He wasn’t sure at first, so he drew his own blood to compare.

His blood’s presence in Kyo… was strong.

He wasn’t sure if that was normal or not, considering Kyo was the only void-type he had encountered. 

But compared to the other blood codes… his is somehow more prominent.

Why?

Is it repeated exposure?

The other blood codes were weak in the blood.

However… the man who had become Lost…

Kyo had only exposed themself once to his blood code, with his vestige.

But for Louis… he had given them his blood first, then they grabbed his vestige…

Could that be why his blood code was stronger in Kyo’s blood?

Even with this discovery… he still doesn’t know… how the other Kyo came to be…

Muscle memory was one thing… but their knowledge… and power…

Before Kyo couldn’t use lightning, but the other Kyo could… and when they disappeared… Kyo could use it.

If that reaction is Kyo’s body trying to remember how to fight, that doesn't explain how that Kyo knew about certain information.

Before he knew it… the night passed on…

And he was alone out here with Io.

He sighed… should he take a break?

He doesn’t feel tired…

Footsteps echoed and Louis turned to see Kyo walk out.

Hm… before Kyo was disoriented… should he ask them now?

“Kyo.” He called out. Kyo turned to him. “I want to ask you something.”

They came closer.

“Do you know about medicine made from the Queen’s blood?” Kyo showed a confused expression.

So no… then the other Kyo-

“Oh.” Kyo let out a sound of realization. “I remember now… there was someone in the slave pens with me… he told me that mistles could be rejuvenated with that medicine.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“No, this is fine, thank you.” So… Kyo already knew about the medicine, which means that the other Kyo had access to that information…

Does that mean the other Kyo was really a manifestation of muscle memory… it could be… but-

_“So, this is what dying feels like.”_

Even now, that sentence sent fear running down his spine.

This Kyo hasn’t died, not while here. So…

“Kyo.”

They turned to him with a questioning look.

“Have you died yet?” They frowned.

“No. Why?”

“It’s nothing important.” 

So, they haven’t died yet either so why… What was the link for that Kyo’s appearance?

_“...what dying feels like…”_

Why did they say that… Kyo wasn’t harmed after the last episode, not to the point of death...

He retreated into his thoughts and Kyo walked away.

Kyo wondered why Louis had asked them those questions.

What had happened… 

They sat down on the couch.

They had woken up restless, body feeling tense. They had no dreams this time, but they were still unnerved. They hope that this doesn’t become a common occurrence…

They heard blankets shift and turned to see Io waking up. 

They didn't move so they wouldn’t startle her.

As she woke up, she turned to where they sat, looking at them with a pointed stare.

“Is something the matter, Io?” She stayed silent… before opening her mouth and…

“It seems I can restore the blood code of a vestige’s creator from elements left in the vestige.”

“Wha-”

“If you find any vestiges, please let me know. It could be a chance to grant you additional strength.”

“Io, do you remember something?” She had no knowledge of this earlier so maybe…

“No… it is… a feeling.” Kyo frowned.

“A feeling, huh.” Not a memory. If it’s just a feeling… 

No, they could test it out, see if her words are true.

“Io, wait right there.” Kyo got up and walked to their room.

They went back out, holding the vestige pieces from yesterday. They walked up to Io, who was looking at them as calm as ever.

“Here, would this work?” They presented the vestige parts to her. Tentatively, she reached her hands out to grab them.

She brought the items closer, listening to its broken whispers.

She put them in one hand and reached her other hand out.

“I’ll need your help.” Kyo paused and reached their hand out. Io grasped their hand softly. She placed the vestiges into their hand and pressed her palm onto the sharp points.

Her blood dripped onto the vestige.

It pulsated… and its thorns expanded.

Fear.

Sorrow.

Worthlessness.

A bright light glowed.

They found themself among ruins within a sea of black. They looked around.

“Ah, so… it worked?” But… they don’t see Io anywhere. 

“How odd.” Could this have something to do with the fact that the vestige was broken?

They walked on. They couldn’t stay still. Hopefully, Io was alright.

“Pathetic. Perfectly useless.” A voice called out. Kyo frowned and walked closer.

They could see a group of revenants surrounding one who was on the ground.

“You’re expected to pull your own weight in this squad.”

“You’d be easy to replace.”

Was it directed to the owner of this vestige?

The images disappeared as the memory made way for them.

As they walked another image appeared.

Two people, talking in what appears to be a hospital room.

“Are you sure I’m cut out for this?” The man asked.

Cut out for what?

“You’ve got the raw ability. The rest depends on whether or not you have the guts.” The other replied.

The image disappears and the memory beckoned them forward. 

“End of the road.” They didn’t walk far when the next image appeared.

“Is that… the Hunter?” The shadow of the man towering over the one on the floor… it certainly looks like it.

“No, please…” The man begged. “Wait… Don’t take my home away from me!”

It was a desperate yell that left Kyo feeling a sour taste in their mouth.

The shadow of the Hunter paused.

“Thank you- for your dedication.” The memory replied.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” The image had disappeared by then, so that was nothing more of an echo of a thought.

But… what wasn’t supposed to be “like this?”

This person was connected to the Hunter… but with what.

They walked on.

There they could see the huge silhouette of the owner.

“Wait… is that… the Lost?” Around the memory… was the huge Lost that they had fought. 

As they moved closer to the stone image… the man’s head was lopped off.

“What!” And everything started to fall. 

...

And yet… even as everything fell into darkness… they stayed in place.

They hear stone grinding against each other as light appears from above…

“Is that… the door?” The door to exit the memories… it was different from the others… but they had nowhere to go.

And so, they walked.

* * *

“Kyo!” Louis reached out to catch them.

When he heard that Io could repair vestiges, he was curious, yes, but he had decided that it would be best to direct his attention elsewhere.

When Kyo had presented Io with the vestige he had stopped to keep an eye on the duo. 

The bright light shone, and he could see Io and Kyo stare blankly at something. It didn’t last long.

Io had closed her eyes and Kyo… he could see them start to fall.

He made it in time, just before Kyo collapsed on the floor.

“Kyo, are you alright?!” When viewing vestiges… Kyo hadn’t looked this ill.

Louis took note of them.

Their pupils… they were dilated as they stared past him. He could see Kyo chest heave as they tried to breath,

He tried to carry them, only for Kyo to let out a pained gasp.

“Kyo, what is it?!”

They didn’t say anything.

He didn’t hesitate this time. He maneuvered them to sit on the couch as he looked back to Io.

“Io, do you know what’s going on!?”

She didn’t answer and fear gripped his heart.

Why? 

She cared about them, so why was she silent?

Io stood and walked over to Kyo.

He stilled, hoping she would do something… but she placed a hand on their head, lightly stroking it.

“It’s alright. The blood code is binding itself to you.”

“Blood code?”

The vestige would have a blood code, but would it cause such an intense reaction?

This didn’t happen with the other vestiges.

He could only sit as Kyo tried to breathe, Io still stroking their head.

Gradually, he could see Kyo calm down.

He went to ask them if they were alright when-

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“Kyo?”

“Thank you for your dedication.” Kyo’s breathing slowed, he could see them focus on him as they recovered.

Kyo sat up with a frown.

“The Hunter…”

Kyo shut their eyes. He made sure that they were alright before asking.

“What did you see?”

They opened their eyes, a thoughtful look on their face.

“The Hunter and the revenant… seemed to be working together.”

Louis frowned.

“On what?”

“I don’t know… but the Hunter… something happened, and he killed the revenant… I don’t know why.”

Louis went quiet as he pondered.

The Hunter hunts revenants. He assumes that the woman earlier was his partner… but if there was more assisting him.

It paints a grim picture.

“In the end, we need to focus on our business. We shouldn’t chase after this. If we must deal with the Hunter, then let that time come naturally.” He advised, looking over at Kyo.

He sees Kyo frown, troubled by the information they learned. But in the end, they nodded their head in agreement.

Louis breathed out, thankful that they were cooperative.

Then, he had a thought.

“Kyo, if you’re feeling alright, may I take another sample of your blood?”

Kyo sent him a questioning look.

“Why?”

“You have accepted a new blood code; I want to see what happens to your blood.”

Kyo paused, thinking it over.

“...Alright.”

“Thank you. Please, stay right there.” Louis moved back to his desk, retrieving a knife and another vial.

He paced back, with the duo following his every move. He could see Io shift, just slightly, in front of Kyo.

He reached out for the bandaged hand. Unraveling the bandages, he could still see that cut that was in the process of healing.

Murmuring a silent apology, he cut into it once again.

The blood color and flow looked normal, nothing out of place.

When he collected enough blood, he moved to cap the vial.

He reached down to grab something to stem the blood, frowning when he realized that he forgot.

He wrapped Kyo’s hand with the old bandage, making sure the old blood stains did not touch the cut.

“Please wait while I get some supplies.”

“Wait-”

Louis paced back to his desk, pushing aside some books. He heard some fall, but he made it no heed. He can put it all back when this is done.

He opened the drawers, looking through them all until he found the gauze and cotton.

He rushed back, ignoring Kyo’s wide eyes.

“Here, let me-”

He removed the old bandages, placing down the cotton to stem the blood flow and started wrapping up Kyo’s hand.

When Kyo’s hand was bandaged, Louis leaned back with a small sigh.

He went to retrieve the vial, when a tug on his shirt stopped him.

“I think you should rest.” Kyo said looking up at him.

Louis looked a bit shocked, with the way his eyes widened, and Kyo couldn’t blame him.

They… did not interact that much with him, even in battle.

There was also the fact that Kyo was not obligated to care for him, even during their partnership.

“I’m fine.” Louis said. Kyo frowned and turned back to the overturned books. They let go of his shirt and once again-

“I think you should rest.” Louis moved back a bit.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”

With that, Kyo watched Louis walk back to his desk. They watched as he picked up the fallen books.

As he placed the books back into stacks, Kyo can’t help but think… that the books seemed to be a wall for him. They watched as he moved behind the books, careful not to disturb them. When he sat down, Kyo couldn't see him anymore.

Maybe they were thinking about it too much, afterall, everyone likes privacy; so, it wouldn’t be a surprise to build something that would give a bit of comfort and safety.

They felt a hand brush their hair. They turned back to Io.

“Oh. Io, are you alright?” Unlike the other time, Io had been directly touching the vestige, its spikes had pierced her hand.

However, there was no blood or open cuts on her.

“Yes, I am fine.” She spoke, in her usual wispy voice. 

Kyo hummed.

“Are you tired?” She shook her head.

“Are you sure?” It was the middle of the night. Even though they didn’t feel sleepy, she shouldn’t be.

She nodded.

Kyo let out a sigh.

“Alright then, I’ll stay with you until you feel tired. Okay?”

Io nodded.

“Okay.”

* * *

Io had taken some time to fall asleep. As such Kyo found themself waking up in the afternoon rather than the early morning.

As they walked out of the room, they noticed that the base was, surprisingly, very empty.

They could see some new boxes stacked around.

But… there was no sign of Louis or Yakumo.

Kyo peeked over at Io.

Still sleeping.

“Are you looking for Louis?” Kyo turned to see Murasame standing behind them.

‘How-?’

Seeing her look at them, Kyo shook their head.

“I was just curious.”

Murasame nodded her head and walked into her shop.

With nothing left to do, Kyo went and sat down on a couch.

The day passed and Louis and Yakumo still hadn’t showed up.

Kyo heard a door open. Looking over they saw the merchant, Coco, walk out.

She walked straight to her car, moving around the items and looking through them.

Time passed on, silent.

Kyo looked back over at Io and remembered something.

‘Oh, I have to thank her.’

Only when Coco was done with everything and was leaning against the car was when Kyo approached her.

She looked over at them but did not move to do… anything.

“You… kept Io company. I wanted to thank you for that.”

Coco stared at them for a good second, perhaps taken aback, but she recovered. 

“I didn’t do much really, I just had some things lying around.”

“Still, thank you.” Coco crossed her arms.

“If you want to thank me, you could buy something.” Kyo furred their brows.

“Buy…”

“You do know how this works, don’t you?” Coco asked with a brow raised. She looked rather impatient.

“No, I don’t. Sorry for bothering.” They turned away-

“Wait.” Coco called out. They stopped and turned back to her.

She was looking at them, face impassive.

“Is it true… that you forgot everything?”

“... Yes.” She tilted her head.

“I’ll help you get on your feet, but you need to buy something first.” Kyo felt more confused.

“I don’t have the currency you need.”

“You do.”

“...What?”

“Buy something and I’ll show you.” Coco stated again. Kyo was still uncertain, but Coco backed up walking around her car. She looked back over to them and they followed behind.

They can see some cases and boxes open with different items stored neatly inside. Coco was standing to the side, looking.

Kyo looked over the items, picking up a syringe that was labeled ‘Anti-Venom’ before turning back to Coco.

“That all you want?” They nodded. “Then give me your hand.”

Kyo did so. Coco’s hand wrapped around theirs. Nothing happened at first… but soon Kyo could feel something start to drain out of them.

“?” It wasn’t blood but what was being syphoned out of them felt… not vital, but it seemed important.

It stopped and Coco pulled her hand away.

Kyo let theirs drop and looked back at her.

“That was haze.”

“Haze?”

“Pieces of Lost or revenants. You could say that it's like hair, falling around without worry. But what’s important is that it can revitalize cells. Revenant cells to make them stronger.” Coco explained.

“Is that why-”

“It’s currency? Yeah. I’m a merchant so fighting head to head with Lost is something to avoid. You can only get a good amount of haze by killing Lost, see where this is going?”

Kyo nodded.

“You already gathered haze so keep doing what you’re doing.” Kyo nodded again.

“Thank you.” Coco looked them over and leaned back against her car.

“Hmph, any other questions?”

“Will that cost me?” Here they could see a twitch of her lips.

“No.”

Kyo had many questions that they wanted to be answered.

Like what was going on, in this prison.

What is Cerberus?

What happened here?

Is there anything else that they should know about?

And yet… their mind flashed back to that human woman.

...They have… the least amount of information on humans in the end…

“Humans…here... How are they, in here?”

Coco looked at them, a blank expression on her face.

“...Why?” Kyo looked her over. She had become very still, which was suspicious, but Kyo decided to explain.

“We met a human while travelling.” They start. “She was… escaping from a revenant.” Coco looked them over.

“Louis told me a bit about that, but why did you want to know about humans in general?”

“Louis said that most humans are under the protection of Cerberus. But… I think he’s hiding some things about what’s going on.” She stayed silent.

“This place is already pretty bad, why do you want to know more about that?” Kyo blinked. Was that really important?

“I… She…” They fell silent. But Coco didn’t interrupt, she just stood there, waiting. “We left her behind… to go to a Cerberus checkpoint by herself…”

They said in the end. 

“And why should you be so concerned? If she makes it, she makes it… If not-”

“It shouldn’t be like that.” The stern tone that came out of them surprised them both. But… Coco wasn’t mad.

“What do you mean?” And all their anger spilled out.

“She could’ve been attacked by Lost or-or kidnapped by another group of revenants… I don’t think that she should’ve been alone.”

“... That may be so, but you can’t just take care of everyone you meet. Even if something bad does happen, it’s out of your hands. Kindness is scarce here for good reason and you cannot baby everyone.”

Kyo stayed quiet, looking at Coco.

“You’re right.” They said, after a long pause. “But… in that situation, I don’t think it would’ve hurt to help out a bit more.”

After all, she would be safely guarded in a shelter, but if they see that happen rather than just hoping she makes it alone, it would’ve eased their mind.

They thought about what Coco said, how kindness was scarce. 

She was right. And yet… not.

They thought back to the revenant who spoke to them when they had woken up in the slave pen. Who told them what they needed to know.

He could’ve just ignored them; he didn’t have to step in and help Io sleep… But he did and they were grateful.

Then there was Oliver… he was kind to them. Maybe he needed to be, maybe it was guilt, but they didn’t mind, he helped them.

He helped them out… much more than needed to.

And now he’s gone. But… that last act of kindness… He could’ve just stayed there.

Why didn’t he?

...In the end… that’s probably why they were refusing to let go of his memory.

They had a certain bitterness towards him. They didn’t hate him. It was more along the line of an unpaid debt that couldn’t be fulfilled. 

...They wanted his kindness to be rewarded, if only to soothe their own pride.

If he had just waited a little longer…

The others are gone too…

“Humans basically live here like animals.”

“Huh?” Kyo looked back over at Coco. 

“Now, they could be mistreated, or they could live in safety… but from what I see, we’re all in a prison in one way or another.” Coco looked over at her merchandise.

“I have human clients too and they do the usual. Farming, eating, drinking; all that. You could say that they live in a bubble… But the shelters are always guarded by Cerberus soldiers. From Lost or other revenants if the Cerberus soldiers fall, they’re doomed. Even if they’re safe, there’s always that underlying fear.”

“I… see. Thank you.”

This doesn’t make them feel better about leaving the human, but hopefully… she’ll be fine. That’s… all they can do…

“I am curious as to why you were so worried about the human.” Coco looked them over. “You’re giving this much more thought than I expected.”

Kyo let out a small smile.

“I just wanted her to be happy.” Coco raised a brow.

“That it?” Kyo stared over at Coco.

“... Did Louis tell you that she was planning to kill herself so she wouldn’t be taken by another group of revenants?” Coco stayed silent. “She said that she was tired of being treated like an animal… so yeah, I just wanted her to be safe and happy. That’s it, really.”

Death doesn’t mean anything to a revenant, but a human? There’s no continuing after that.

The smile fell from their lips as they started to think. 

Ending it all, huh. For a purpose.

...Why-

“Well, you look like you need to relax.” Kyo blinked, looking back over at Coco.

“Pardon?”

“You look like you need to relax.” She said again. “I don’t know about you, but usually talking about things like this makes me want to smoke.”

“Smoke?”

“Hm. Nothing. Why don’t you go and do something to take your mind off things? The air’s already gloomy, no need to add to it.”

Kyo stood there.

“What is it?” Coco asked.

“I don’t remember anything that helps me relax.” They admitted. Coco went silent.

“Hm, then do something that makes the body relax, take a bath or go relax in the hot springs.”

“Bath?”

“What, did you forget that too?” Kyo tilted their head in thought.

Did they?

“No, I think I know how that works.”

“Then,” Coco waved her hand behind her. “Go relax.”

Kyo turned to see that Coco was standing in front of the bath… that was out in the open. There were curtains, yes… wait isn’t this also…

“What is it?”

“Wouldn’t that be rude of me?” Coco slowly blinked. 

“What?”

“Wouldn’t that be rude of me to use something that’s not mine?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s… Louis’ bath, no?” Coco stared at them for a long time.

“Are you saying… that you need permission to take a bath.”

Kyo tilted their head.

“Is that not how it works?” Coco… let out a deep sigh.

“I see that Louis- no.” Coco looked up at them. “Sometimes, it’s fine to be selfish, once in a while. Besides you’re living here, so just go do it. I do it all the time.”

Kyo stared blankly at her.

“... I appreciate the sentiment, but-”

“Alright.” Coco cut them off walking around her materials. “Come here.” 

Kyo followed and watched as Coco opened the door to her vehicle. She leaned in, pulled out some bottles and pushed the items into their arms.

“Wha-” Wasting no time, Coco turned them around and moved them to the bathtub, grabbing the side of the curtains.

She pushed them inside the bathroom space and moved the curtains to hide them.

“Wait what are you-”

“Go relax.” She said.

“No, I can’t, I don’t think-”

“You should bathe before they come back, or do you want to explain why you’re standing there like this.”

“Huh! Wait I don’t understand-”

“Go relax.” She said one final time before moving the curtains. “And don’t worry, everyone uses those items.”

A wide-eyed stare was the last thing she saw before she moved the curtains, closing off the space.

Coco moved as far as she could away from the area, but close enough to where she could still hear.

Louis, whatever you’re doing it would be best for you to take your time, she thought.

It took some amount of time, before she could slowly hear the revenant place the shampoo and soap down. She stood there, wondering if she was going to have to be more forceful.

Eventually, she could hear the water turn on. She let out a sigh and went to the bar, trying to find something that could take her mind off this mess.

She turned to see Murasame looking over at her.

She leaned back, took a long drink before walking over to the young girl.

“What is it?” Murasame stared at Coco, before sighing.

“I’m glad that you like them.” She said. Coco raised a brow.

“What makes you think that?”

“You wouldn’t have given them items for free or talk with them that long if you didn’t.” She said it quietly, so that it wouldn’t be heard by any other. Coco took another drink.

“It’s nothing more than first impressions.” She said. Murasame stared at her. For such a “young” revenant, she could see through her sometimes. At first it was suspicious, but gradually she grew used to it.

“Is this what they’re like here.” Murasame looked over at Coco when she asked the question. 

“Yeah. They’re always on edge here.” Murasame bent down and picked up some steel containers.

“Hm.” She would like to say it’s none of her business. She really would. But this is one of her main sources of income so she would be dealing with this one way or another.

Coco tilted her head back and took another long drink.

That really was one of Louis’ problems. His complete lack of communication. As a merchant, she wouldn’t push.

She thinks about talking with Louis about what this is doing to his new tenants, but she was pretty sure that revenant would be very displeased.

In the end, it was a situation where only the two groups could solve, not a wandering merchant like her. The best she could do was provide… a bit of support.

She heard the water turn off.

‘That was quick.’

She walked back to see the revenant slowly open the curtains. They noticed her and stopped.

Coco frowned. Looks like they’re still tense. The revenant walked over to Coco.

“Here you are.” They said as they presented the items to her.

“Keep ‘em.” They frowned. 

“You said that the others use this.” Coco waved a hand. 

“It’s fine, I’ll just go get some more.”

“But…” Coco waved them off again.

“Just go put it in your room.” The revenant stared at her before turning around and walking to their room.

Everything became quiet for a bit.

Coco finished her drink and was leaning back against her car when the revenant came back out. They looked at her and shifted around on their feet.

She waited, after all, it would be bad service to discomfort a customer.

“Miss Coco, sorry for the trouble, but may I ask you about something?”

She raised a brow at the change of tone but nodded.

“Sure.” They shifted around again before looking at her.

“Do you know where I can clean my clothes?”

Coco blinked.

“As in laundry?” They nodded. Coco went silent.

“I’ll be truthful, no one really does laundry here.”

“Huh?” The wide-eyed stare she got made her let out a sigh.

“Well, it’s true. Louis wears leather, which can’t be cleaned that often or it’ll be ruined. He cleans his shirt but if it's ruined, he throws it away. Yakumo has more sturdy clothing so when it's dirty he just throws it in water and scrubs.”

A part of her wonders if she really should be telling this, but who knows, this might help in the end. She’s bored of silence anyway.

“It might be better for you to throw it away.” She said in the end. The revenant frowned. “What, did you like your clothes that much?”

They stayed silent before answering.

“I woke up with it… It’s one of the only things I have that is mine.”

“...” The revenant looked back up at her.

“Sorry for bothering.”

“Wait.” They stopped. “No one does laundry here… but, it might not be bad for you to do it for yourself.”

“Huh?”

“Though, you’ll have to do it by hand, which is more annoying.”

“Miss Coco?” She turned to them.

“It might take me a while to get some items, think you can wait?”

“Wait?”

“Like I said, no one really does laundry here, they just throw it in water or throw it away, so unless you want to throw your clothes in a bucket of water and wait, you’ll need some tools. It’ll take me a while to find them.” They raised a hand.

“Wait you don't have to do this much-” She waved it off.

“It’s fine. Besides if you take care of your clothes saves me the trip of running around and finding new ones.”

“New clothes… wait, was that you?” She tilted her head.

“I got ‘em, but it was Louis who paid me to.” They widened their eyes.

“Him? Why?” She shrugged. 

“Beats me. Oh, do they fit?”

“I… haven’t tried everything on, I’m sorry.” Coco sighed.

“New clothes here usually don’t have tags anymore, but some do so just look for that and narrow them down. They’ll have the size and measurements there.” They blinked.

“Oh, I see. Thank you.”

“If any of them don’t fit you, just give them back to me. Oh, and help the girl out, she doesn’t seem to hold any interest in those.” The revenant blinked.

“Girl? Do you mean Io?”

“The boxes are under her bed.” Coco confirmed. “So, whenever she feels like it, have her try them out.”

They nodded.

“Yes, thank you. Oh, your payment.” They raised their hand.

“I’ll tell you how much it’ll be once I find it and bring it back.” She said. They put their hand down.

“I see, thank-”

The sound of the door screeched open. They both turned to see Louis and Yakumo walk in, carrying weapons.

“Ehh? Where did you find those?” Murasame called out, running out of her shop to look the items over.

Yakumo grunted as he put them down.

“It was just lying around.” He said.

Louis was also placing some weapons down, but he had his eye trained on the two of them.

“...Miss Coco.” The revenant turned back to her. “Thank you for everything, I’ll be taking my leave now.”

She nodded.

The revenant turned to look at the sleeping girl before going back to their room.

She watched as Yakumo and Louis helped sort out the weapons for Murasame, with Yakumo and Murasame chatting.

After Louis had given Murasame his gear to repair, he walked over to her.

“What were you two talking about?”

“Customer privacy.” Coco answered.

“I see. And, how were they?”

“They were fine, no stumbling, no fever.” Louis nodded. 

“That’s good. Any news?” She shook her head. 

“Haven’t found anything.” Louis nodded.

“I see, thank you again then.” He raised his hand and she grabbed it, sucking out the haze she needed.

“You plan on going anywhere soon?”

“No. I will be going out and checking on something close by daily, but it is of no concern. Why do you ask?”

“I’ll be busy in the next few days.” She answered. Louis nodded to show that he understood.

“Take care then.”

* * *

After that day, Coco was gone. Louis had talked with them about what he had found with their blood. There were some interesting results, but Louis said that he needed more tests.

He would also leave, rotating with Yakumo or even going with him to check on something.

During that time, they would spend time with Io, watching over her when she wasn’t sleeping.

Unlike her excited state with Murasame, when they were here, she was content to just stay by their side.

Coco came back a few days later, most often talking with Louis. At the time they had forgotten about what she had said she was looking for.

It was only when Louis and Yakumo had left that Coco walked up to them.

“Come help me grab some stuff.”

She opened the steel door that held the banner on top and led them inside. Kyo could see multiple doors inside the hallway.

They watched as Coco opened one of them.

“In here.” Kyo peeked in. It looked like a normal storage room. There Kyo could see some items stacked around. “Here, bring this one out.”

She points to a machine with rollers on top. At the bottom Kyo could see a tub at the bottom.

Kyo saw wheels at the bottom.

‘Oh.’

They walked behind the machine and started to push.

Coco walked ahead.

They followed and watched as Coco opened another door. There Kyo saw sunlight shine through.

They pushed the machine out and saw that it was a… grassy lawn. Or rather a grassy area as trees adored the space.

They stopped pushing.

“You still have some other things.” Coco informed. They both walked back to the room.

Coco pointed to some things stacked at a corner. Kyo saw a wooden tub at the bottom and on top of it, three metal tubs stacked on each other.

Looking inside Kyo saw a board, soap, and some string inside along with a few pins.

This was much easier to carry outside.

“You have one more thing.” Coco said.

That thing was rope tied to four pieces of wood.

No, it seemed to be… a net maybe? 

As they walked back outside Coco turned to them.

“Alright, I’ll explain the basics just this once. That is a clothes wringer.” She pointed to the machine with a crank. “It used to dry clothes and that thing your hold is used for drying too, though for more fragile items. Stretch the thing as tight as you can so that it doesn’t fall over.”

Kyo nodded.

“Now, I’ll tell you what these things are.” She pointed to the tubs. “From the bottom up, laundry basket, metal tubs for water, washboard and clotheslines. Got it?”

They nodded.

“Now this takes a lot of time and practice to get the results you want, so can’t help you there.”

“That’s fine.” Kyo said. “You’ve done enough, thank you.”

“I’m just doing my job, don’t be so sentimental.”

“I see. Oh, you're payment.” Coco shook her head.

“I still haven’t decided the price yet, so just wait a bit longer.” Kyo nodded. “Well, I’ll leave you to do what you like. See ya. Oh, and here.”

Coco tossed them something.

Matches.

With a curt farewell Coco walked away. 

Alone, Kyo looked at the items.

‘I should set up.’

Doing as Coco said, they stretched the odd net as taut as it could be.

After that Kyo looked over at the rope. Or rather clothesline.

Line of clothes. Hm.

Should they tie it to something?

After a bit of looking they found two long metals rods placed in a corner, leaning against the wall.

They did think of tying it to a tree, but they didn’t want leaves or something falling onto the clothes if they hang it there.

Stabbing one of the rods into the ground they tied one end of the rope. They unraveled the rope to see how long it was before placing the other rod into the ground.

As soon as that was done, they turned and looked at the tubs.

The wooden tub was for gathering laundry, so they put it to the side.

The metal tubs should be for water.

Hm.

Hot, warm, and cold water, right?

They looked down at the matches.

Seems so.

Ah. Where should they get the water?

They only know of the bathtub.

Hm. If the duo isn’t back, they’ll try it.

Kyo walked back and looked around.

They didn’t see Louis or Yakumo so they rushed to their room and grabbed their dirty clothing.

Rushing back outside, they proceeded to look at the metal tubs.

Hm. They’ll try with one and figure out the rest from there.

They rushed back inside, making sure they weren’t bothering anyone, before filling the tub with water.

Back outside they… don’t know what to do.

Should they soak the clothes?

They poured a bit of water onto their bloodstained shirt and tried rubbing at it with water.

Mmm. Nothing. Guess they should use hot water.

They looked down at the matches…

But where… 

Ah… they see some fallen branches.

After gathering them, Kyo placed them in a small pile.

They should light it on fire, right?

...No… wait, they think they should build a pit… right?

Yes… it’s grassy here so a fire pit would be best.

Kyo sighed. They understood what Coco meant by it being tedious.

It took some more time, but they were able to build one.

They placed the braches in the hole and decided to go grab some dried-up smaller branches to fill up space.

Lighting the match, they dropped it onto the pit.

Slowly, a fire began to build.

After the fire was strong enough, they placed the tub of water onto the pit and began to wait.

Hm.

Should they wait until it was warm instead of hot?

They reached a hand into the tub to test the temperature-

“What are you doing?”

“!”

Kyo spun around to see Louis standing at the door.

He looked over at the pile of clothes before turning back to them.

“Are you doing laundry?”

Kyo nodded.

“Yes… Do you need me for anything?”

“Not at all.” Louis tilted his head. “Do you need assistance?”

“No thank you.” They blurted out, cursing themself for the blunder.

Louis didn’t take offense. He stayed silent, staring at them with that blank stare he always uses.

“Use the soap on the washboard.” Louis started.

Kyo widened their eyes.

“Scrub the clothes on that and then rise it off in clean water before drying.”

With that advice, Louis turned around and shut the door behind him.

Kyo let out a sigh of relief.

Once again… he was looking at them like that.

But… they were thankful for the advice.

Hm. Did Louis used to do laundry too?

He looked a bit... sad.

* * *

When they were finished with everything and were hanging the clothes, it was nighttime.

Kyo let out a big sigh.

Tedious indeed.

Hopefully, the clothes don’t get stained by anything before tomorrow.

As they walked inside the heard footsteps echoing down the hall.

“Oh? Looks like you’re done?” It was Coco. She was looking a bit flushed, which made them worry.

“Are you alright, Miss Coco?”

“Hm? I’m fine, why?”

“You’re face, it’s red.” Coco shrugged.

“It’s nothing, just took a dip in the hot springs.”

“Hot springs?”

“A place to relax.” Coco elaborated. Kyo nodded.

“Oh.” They remembered now. “Miss Coco, your payment.”

Coco sighed.

“That again? After I was relaxing too?”

“I’m sorry.” Coco waved it off.

“Truth be told I still haven’t decided yet. But if you want to repay me that bad, why don’t you do my laundry?” Kyo frowned.

“Are you sure? I could ruin your clothes.” Coco stared at them.

“You didn’t even pause.”

“Hm?” What did that mean?

“Nothing.” Oh, speaking of clothes.

“Miss Coco, about the clothes that don’t fit, when would you like for me to give it to you?”

“Just give it to me before my next trip.” She said. Kyo nodded.

“Oh, and Io wasn’t interested in trying any on. So that will have to wait…”

“That’s fine. Do you know your measurements?” Kyo tilted their head.

“I think so, why?”

“I’ll be switching those clothes that don’t fit with new ones.” They raised a hand.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to-”

“It’s part of the deal.”

“Deal?” Coco crossed her arms as she explained.

“The deal with Louis was that I was to provide you with a certain number of clothing. Since some do not fit, I have to switch it out.”

“... I… see.”

Why? Why does he do this?

“How was it?” Kyo looked back over at Coco. “Your little cleaning getaway.” 

Kyo sighed.

“You were right.” 

They both exited the hall, with Kyo making way to Io, ignoring the stares along the way.

After that little adventure, everything turned back into monotony. 

They don't dirty their clothes so there was no reason to go clean.

Io still stayed quiet whenever they were around.

All they’ve been doing was staying with Io or staying inside their room.

And it was driving them mad.

Not only that Louis and Yakumo would _stare_ at them waiting for _something_ to happen.

Well, what’s going to happen is that they’re going to lose it.

“That’s quite a face you’ve got there.” Coco said to them. It was night and _thankfully_ it was just them, Coco, and Io, who was once again sleeping.

“Hm.” Coco was ready to set off, so she was checking her merch. Louis was somewhere.

They heard her sigh.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s with you?”

“I’m fine, Miss Coco.” She raised a brow.

“Oh, is that so? Lying to a merchant is pointless you know. I can sniff out lies.” Kyo raised a brow.

“Can you, really?” She didn’t take the bait. Well, it was rather poorly disguised. 

Kyo waited a bit before answering.

“I can’t take it here anymore.”

“Hm. Is that it? You could leave and go explore; you’d have to ask Louis-”

“That’s the problem.” Coco stopped. Kyo sighed.

“I know… you trust him. But… I can’t. Not right now.”

“... Is that the only reason.” Kyo leaned back, careful not to let Io fall from where she was sleeping on them.

“I have something that I need to do on my own. I just- I just want to go and figure things out without having someone looking over my shoulder all the time. I know that he’s the leader and I have to tell him, but he-he won’t leave me alone and he keeps staring at me for something and I-” Kyo slumped over.

“I just want to go outside.”

Coco stared. She stared for a long, long time.

They looked nothing alike.

They didn’t even sound alike.

One was a soldier, an undead creature, and the other human.

And yet.

_“Mommy, can I go with you today?”_

_“No, you’ll get sick, just wait until Mommy comes back, ok?”_

_“But Mom! I wanna go outside! I wanna go with you!”_

…

“Louis will be waking up a bit late tomorrow. If you wake up early enough, you could leave before he notices. I’ll tell him you left.” 

They turned to her with wide eyes.

“Why?”

“This little cold war with you both is stressing everyone out so if this is what breaks it, so be it.” Coco turned back to her merch.

“Just think about it.”

She understands Louis' desire to keep them safe. She really does. But they weren’t a kid and he had to see that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me writing this: I totally forgot to introduce Kyo to Coco. Oh well.
> 
> Btw with the new update did anyone notice that they changed Oliver's eye color? Now I have to go and change it in the story...
> 
> And can you guys tell I'm using JP voices?


	5. Chapter 5

Kyo watched as the sun rose from the horizon. They had woken up earlier but were indecisive on what to do.

If Coco was telling the truth, then they could leave without worry.

…

Kyo mulled over their options.

Should they?

They can’t just stay here.

They need to get stronger.

Wasn’t that what they wanted?

But they know… that if they do do this, Louis would be angry.

The fragile peace would be shattered.

But... they can’t just sit by…

Right?

… Yes, they can’t just stand around, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Not with this.

Mind made up, Kyo grabbed their vest and sword.

They walked out as quietly as they could.

Stepping into the living space, they see that Io was awake, looking at them.

Kyo walked over to her, her eyes never leaving their form.

When they reached her, she tilted her head to look them over.

“Are you leaving?” Kyo nodded.

“Yeah.” Io looked back up at them.

“I understand. Then I shall wait here for your return.” Kyo looked back at Io.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” She nodded. Kyo glanced down at their feet

“Alright… then, I’ll be off.” They walked to the door. There really wasn’t much to say to Io. And… they have to leave, quickly.

They opened it as slowly as possible and made sure to open it just enough to where they can squeeze through.

As they were closing the door, they could see Io staring at them. They stared for a bit before closing the door.

...Truth be told, they felt bad leaving Io there to deal with Louis and Yakumo. Hopefully, Murasame can distract her if she’s not too busy.

As it stands, they are in no way capable of protecting her right now or even themself. 

...

Well… that’s why they’re out here, right?

* * *

‘Looks like they left.’

Coco walked out and saw the girl, Io, lying in her bed.

She didn’t sense them anywhere.

Well, guess that’s that.

She turned her attention back to her merchandise. 

Louis wants climbing gear or something that could help keep people tethered to rocks. It was easy to find spikes to stab into rock, the problem was the rope quality. Revenants carry heavy things so if the rope snaps… well. 

Cerberus most likely has some for their search parties, but the ones she’s been dealing with was stubborn.

As she was looking through to see what else she needed to negotiate for she heard someone walk out.

It was Yakumo.

...

Hm, that might be worrying.

Yakumo wakes up early, but he usually stays in his room until later.

Is it because of Louis sleeping in today? 

Coco let out a small scoff.

She can guess why he was out here then.

Yakumo stopped when he reached the living area, frowning. He looked back towards the hall with the rooms before turning back.

“Where are they?” He asked. He didn’t clarify who he was asking, so Coco stayed quiet. “Coco. Where are they?”

Hmph.

“They went out.” She answered, not even bothering to turn around.

“And you let them?!” Here she finally faced Yakumo, arms crossed.

“And why should I have stopped them?” She could see Yakumo grit his teeth.

“They could run away.” He emphasized. She raised a brow.

“And leave the girl here?” She nodded over to Io who was lying in bed. “Keep your voice down.”

“They could be out scouting for a hideout.” Yakumo hissed, his voice quieter.

And to that Coco just said:

“So what?” They could see anger flash as his eyes widened. “Don’t get huffy you overgrown brat. You’re the ones that are supposed to be taking care of them. If they leave because they don’t trust you, why should I be involved?”

Yakumo gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything. Coco dropped her arms, placing a hand on her hip.

“Let me teach you a bit about business. You need something, you be nice to the ones you need it from. You lose their trust, you move on.”

“No one else can do what they do.” Yakumo fired back.

“Then that’s on you.” He glared, ready to yell. “Don’t give me that look, you think I’m dumb? I’ve seen you follow the brat around with your eyes. And if I can see that then you know they can too. You won’t leave them alone? Won’t give them what they want? They’ll make sure to get it from somewhere else.”

At that, Yakumo quieted down, but he was still defiant.

“That’s business.” Coco finished. “The both of you should learn that.”

Yakumo said nothing. He was still angry however, so Coco watched as he went over to the bar, opening a bottle of cheap alcohol. 

Her nose crinkled at the smell.

Everything went silent again.

Coco breathed out, knowing that Louis would react negatively once he woke up and found out. He would probably even stay awake to make sure they don’t sneak out, making things worse.

The day passed, tension high. Coco would’ve originally left but she still needed to talk to Louis before she left.

Preferably about supplies.

The sun hadn’t reached the zenith when Louis walked out.

He was looking down, thinking about something when he froze.

More alert Louis looked up, scanning the living area before turning and walking back to the rooms.

He knocked on the door to the revenant’s room.

Hearing nothing, he rushed back out.

“Where’s Kyo.” He wasn’t asking.

“Out.” Was all Yakumo said from his position at the bar.

“For how long?” Yakumo shrugged.

“Dunno, wasn’t there when they left.” Louis frowned and went to run inside his room when Coco stepped in his way.

“And what are you doing?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Coco. What are you doing?” She sighed.

“Nothing much, just wanted to see if you needed anything else before I left.”

“Sorry, not now, I need to go catch up with Kyo and bring them back-”

“That’s going to make things worse and you know it.” Coco stated, cutting him off. Louis didn’t respond to that.

“Coco, did you know?” He asked instead. 

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

“Coco.”

“Calling me won’t change anything.” She stated. “So, let’s get right to it. Do you need anything before I leave?”

“...No.” He answered. With that Coco turned back to grab her travelling gear.

It was silent again, but she didn’t care. Once she was done packing, she heard Louis call her.

“Coco. Why did you let them go?” She turned to him, face blank.

“Why shouldn’t I let them leave?” She asked instead.

“Coco. They could be in serious danger.”

“And that would be on them.” She said in the end. “If they die, that’s their lesson to learn. No amount of coddling will stop that.”

She walked to the door without turning back.

“Instead, it would be better to let them live the way they want to, instead of hanging around like hawks.”

They were not a child. They weren’t his friend. They were a stranger being suffocated unnecessarily, when they were fully capable of going out on their own.

She opened the door and shut it without a care.

* * *

Throughout the day the base was quiet. 

Louis and Yakumo did leave, but what they did before they came back was unknown.

Day became night and Kyo still wasn’t back.

Murasame had left to go to bed.

But Io was wide awake, along with Louis and Yakumo.

“You think they died?” Yakumo asked. Louis was sitting on the couch, straight ahead, deep in thought.

“It’s possible.” Was all he said.

The night passed on and the tension was getting taut.

Yakumo was sure that Louis was soon going to rush out at dawn to go find them, when Io sat up straight, looking over at the door.

“Io?” Louis called out, standing. “What is-”

The door creaked open and in walked Kyo, bloodied.

Louis immediately ran up to them.

“What were you **_thinking_**.” He demanded as he looked them over. Yakumo followed behind, towering over Kyo,making sure there was no escape.

“Well?” He asked.

But instead of cowering, Kyo looked the both of them straight in the eyes.

“None of your business.” Was all they said. Yakumo bristled.

“None of my business?!” He roared. “None of my business to know where the hell you were?!”

“Yes.” Was the clipped reply.

“You got gutsy, huh?” Yakumo leaned in close. But Kyo didn’t move or flinch.

“Yakumo.” At Louis' command, Yakumo stopped. He stepped back as Louis walked in front of him.

“Where were you?” He asked.

“Nowhere special.” Kyo replied. Louis narrowed his eyes.

“If you wanted to go out, you should’ve told one of us and we wouldn’t mind going with-”

“And what if I didn’t want that.” Kyo asked, looking at him. Louis frowned.

“Not possible.”

“No. It’s possible. I just did it today.” Behind him, Louis could feel Yakumo grow angerier. He held up a hand to calm him down, before turning back to Kyo.

“Kyo. Do you not trust me?” He asked.

“Yes.” Kyo replied. Louis frowned at the blunt answer and how quickly it was delivered.

“I apologize if I have wronged you, but you mustn’t leave with notifying anyone-”

“Next time I’ll leave a note.” Kyo said, completely ignoring him.

“**_Kyo_**.”

“And why does it matter if I leave. I’m not running away.” Looks like they were getting to Kyo as they narrowed their eyes.

“Could’ve fooled me.” Yakumo hissed. But Kyo ignored Yalumo’s goading.

“Is that all.” Was all they said.

“Kyo, I understand if you want to go out,” Louis tried again, “but you have to inform-”

“**_I’m not telling you anything._**” Kyo hissed out. Louis stepped back, surprised at the venom thrown at him. Even Yakumo seemed shocked, considering he hadn’t started yelling at Kyo.

He was silent, watching until Kyo calmed down a bit, before asking.

“What brought this about?” But Kyo remained cold.

“I’m quite sure that unless you need me for exploration or my powers, I don’t need to cooperate with you on anything else.” Louis remained calm in spite of the deflection. No, he can do this, he can drag it out.

“I’m sorry that I have displeased you, but we still need to cooperate even outside of exploration.”

Kyo narrowed their eyes.

“Then, why don’t you take your own advice?” They said.

“What?” Kyo moved closer, cold.

“I’m not sure if you’re playing dumb or not, so I’ll spell it out for you: What happened to me that day? Why are you walking around, staring at me like an animal, waiting for me to fuck up, the **_both_** of you?” Here Kyo looked over at Yakumo, glaring at him before turning back to Louis’ shocked expression.

It took him a second until he could gather his bearings.

“If that’s what you’re upset about, then please understand that I’m worried about your condition-”

“You’re. Not. Telling. Me.” Kyo punctuated.

“I haven’t found out what’s wrong-” Louis tried to explain, but Kyo cut him off again.

“I’m not asking for what’s wrong with me. I’m asking about what happened to me.” 

Louis went to try to calm Kyo down when he heard something.

**“What was that?”**

**“Cruz-”**

It was his voice. 

Kyo saw that he had heard and reached into their vest, pulling out two vestige pieces.

“Since we’re not getting anywhere, I’ll say this: if you want to know what’s inside come get me, otherwise don’t bother.”

They dropped the vestige pieces, watching as Louis grabbed them, before shoving their way through Yakumo.

As they marched on, they saw Io wide awake, staring at them wide-eyed. Seeing that lost look, Kyo calmed down a bit, but they didn’t want to be close to the other two. 

I’ll tell you later, they mouthed to her. She nodded and laid back in her bed.

Hopefully, the other two leave her alone, otherwise Kyo was sure that the partnership would end, right then and there.

Inside their room, Kyo let out a huge sigh as they took off their gear.

They wish they could say that they had spent their day just training, but they knew there was a chance that Louis and Yakumo might go after them.

Kyo knew that the daily outings the duo had were them going to the pit to check on the elevator, so they had made sure to stay away from that area.

But they weren’t sure when the duo would be going so, they had stayed close to the area where they had fought the odd Lost with the cocoon.

They had indeed planned to stay out until late so that they wouldn’t get a nice “surprise” from the duo when they were coming back.

That was when they discovered the first vestige piece. They were walking back when they noticed it, hidden in the back of a thin path.

That alone wasn’t bad; what was bad was that for some reason it was guarded by a huge Lost with a hammer. Considering that Kyo had walked past it without worry, they wondered if the Lost was resting there for some reason.

They had spent their time fighting smaller Lost; they didn’t want to fight a huge one so soon.

However, they didn’t want to come back and see the whole area swarming with Lost big or small. And if they were injured, there was a mistle close by they had discovered and revitalized.

They had tried to lure the Lost out where they could fight in the open but keep the Lost inside the narrow alley so that it couldn’t swing it’s hammer around as much.

It had worked for the most part, but the Lost had huge reach, so towards the end it became a battle of desperation.

They had killed it, but they were damaged pretty badly.

As such, after grabbing the vestige, they spent some time recuperating. 

The next piece they had found was rather uneventful. They had rushed past the thorns that connected the two cliff-sides, not wanting to encounter any Lost on them.

They had ran all the way to the city entrance, by then it was night, and under the blanket of darkness the red glow of the vestige was much more visible. It was also in a thin passage, hidden away.

They rested at the mistle under the stairs.

With them in a relatively safer area, they pondered at what to do once they came back to base.

Louis would be angry and in turn Yakumo would be angry.

They understood why. Besides the fact that there was the worry that they would run away, taking their powers with them, there was also the fact that the two were hiding something from them.

Today was also a bit of an experiment. They had wanted to see if they could force themself to fall into a trance. Staying at base did nothing and Kyo was no closer to solving the mystery of why it was happening. So today, they decided to train when they weren’t hiding.

But there was nothing.

Even during the fight with the huge Lost, there was nothing.

The first time was when they were in grave danger. 

But now nothing happened.

The second time came about when they had reacted to a broken vestige.

But nothing happened either after they had collected two.

So, it’s safe to say the current amount of danger they were facing in the city wouldn't cause them to blackout.

Even if they told Louis, they could already tell that he would be averse to them staining themself. And Kyo knows it had to do with what happened that morning, where they had rested from sunset till noon the next day. 

At that, fury rose in them.

How the hell were they supposed to know what’s wrong with them if he doesn’t tell them!?

How the hell were they supposed to know why the two were always around them, even when they’re just sitting next to Io, watching them.

How the hell were they supposed to understand Louis’ fear about them when he won’t tell them?

They’re the one that's being physically hurt if whatever happened repeats. And they’re also the one that could _tell_ him what’s wrong if it does happen again.

So why won’t he tell them? 

They had asked, when he was drawing blood from them again, if something had happened, if there was something to be worried about.

But he brushed them away.

Nothing happened, he lied.

If that’s the case, then they’ll go and train. One way or another they’ll figure it out.

Kyo went to lie in their bed.

They probably wouldn’t be as angry if the duo had waited until later to confront them instead of at the door.

A frustrated sigh escaped them. They won’t leave tomorrow, so they’ll have to deal with the even worse atmosphere.

They don’t regret leaving and they find it hard to regret not telling Louis where they were going.

Who knows, maybe Louis would tell them what they want to know and then they can get somewhere.

* * *

Louis did not tell them anything. 

Instead, he was looking at them from his wall of books to try to convey the desire for a private conversation.

So, Kyo decided to play dumb and ignore his signal.

If he isn’t going to ask about his vestige or tell them what happened, Kyo did not care about what else he might say.

They felt Io stop whatever she was doing and patted their hand to comfort them.

It wasn’t any surprise that they were on edge. But earlier they had actually snapped at Yakumo, who was staring at them _again_, with a cold ‘can I help you?’ 

He averted his eyes and didn’t say anything.

Coco was gone and Murasame, understandably, did not want to deal with any of this so she was working inside her workshop.

Io also understood that things were much more tense, so she had also been staying silent, content to just be by their side.

Neither side wanted to budge.

The second day played out in a similar way, besides the fact that Kyo and Io had moved to the porch to have private conversation that others could not hear.

Hopefully, Io could relax out here...

“Did you enjoy going outside?” Io asked, looking up at them while she held their hand.

“Yeah.” Io stared up at them before continuing.

“Did you manage to do what needed to be done?” Kyo shook their head.

“No, seems I need more time before I can figure it out.” Io tilted her head.

“Does that mean you’re going to leave again.” Kyo nodded.

“Yeah, I have to figure some things out myself.”

Like their void blood code for one.

They at first thought that each ability came with its blood code like a set, however, it seems that’s not the case.

They didn’t manage to experiment much last time so hopefully this time they can mess around a bit more.

They’d also rather do it alone.

“I understand.” Was all Io said.

It was the dawn of the third day when Kyo was putting on their gear.

Louis was awake, they know _that_ for a fact, but they were tired of sitting around so they were planning to just walk through the door.

They doubt that he would follow now. Maybe later, but not now.

Louis did approach them when they walked out, but not for the reason they expected.

“Forgive me for asking this of you when you’re leaving, but if you don’t mind,” he held up his vestige pieces. “I would like to see what is inside.”

Well, they did say that he was to only approach them based on one of two situations. They won’t go back on their word.

“Let me go ask Io.” They said. She was wide awake, looking at them. Maybe she wanted to see them off, she was awake earlier than expected. 

“Io, are you alright?” She nodded. “Then, do you mind helping me in fixing the vestige?”

“I do not mind.” She said. Kyo nodded, then turned to Louis, who had walked up behind them.

“The vestiges.” They said, holding out their hand. Louis placed them carefully on their palm.

Kyo gripped it tight and turned to Io.

“Ready?” They asked. She nodded, reaching a hand out. Her palm, like before, was pierced by the sharp edges, her blood dripping onto the cracks. The thorns expanded; light shined.

…

Confusion.

...

Guilt.

Guilt.

GuiltGuiltGuiltGuiltGuilt.

So much guilt.

And along with that, a hint of desperation.

Kyo found themself standing on a broken road.

“Where am I?” A voice echoed out.

“That must be Louis.” Kyo turned to look. Like before there was an image illuminated. They didn’t see Io or the real Louis.

“Am I still alive?” The shadow whispered. Kyo walked closer. There was an image of Louis lying on a table, but he was in the process of getting up. “No, I know this feeling.”

The image fell silent.

“I’ve come back to life again.”

“What… happened back there?” The image did not move, but Kyo could imagine Louis sitting up, wondering where he was. “Cruz… everyone was…”

The image blackened. 

And the memory formed a path for them.

As Kyo was walking along, an image formed in the distance.

“Each time I learned something new about the world,” Louis’ voice -memory?- echoed out, “or the state of those living in it, my feelings of guilt pierced me even deeper.”

As Kyo reached the image, they saw Louis surrounded by Lost.

“Starving revenants fighting each other for a handful of blood beads… And the ranks of the Lost swelling with each successful conflict.” The memory explained.

“I spend my restless days in battle, trying to keep my head above water… Only when I’m engaged in the rush of combat can I close my eyes to the gravity of what I’ve done.”

The memory blinked away, fading into darkness.

“Only when engaged in combat, huh.” Kyo muttered. They didn’t think Louis would be so reckless, especially after waking up.

A path formed and Kyo walked on.

“Are-are you helping me?” A voice that was not Louis asked. “These blood beads.”

Kyo continued to walk and in the distance another image formed.

They could see Louis standing on top of something, surrounded by bodies. But those bodies were not wounded.

“Knocked out?” Kyo muttered. Why not disperse them all?

“Those men lying over there ordered you to find them, right? Well, now you can keep them.”

Ah, they see now. The boy was a thrall and Louis saved him.

“Far too many people keep revenants as thralls these days. Stay safe and watch yourself out there.” The shadow spoke.

“U-um, my name is Kevin!” The other shadow stuttered out. “I could give you a hand with whatever…”

“I’ll see you.” The shadow replied.

It went black once again.

The next image appeared much more quickly as Kyo walked along.

“Here’s what I was able to bring, it’s not much, but I hope it helps.”

The shadows this time seem to be standing inside a building.

Looking at it, it was actually furnished with a bed.

“Thank you so much.” Kevin cried out. “I’m sorry, I wish there was some way I could repay you…”

The shadows did not move, but by his tone, Kyo could imagine Kevin looking down, feeling guilty.

“I do this because I want to. Don’t worry about me, alright?” Louis’ voice reassured.

“Tell me if I can help with something!” But Kevin seemed to be very determined. “I’ll do whatever I can for you!”

The image blacked out and Kyo could see the door descend. 

“I do this because I want to, huh.” Yes, that seemed very kind, but… for some reason, something was nagging at Kyo at the back of their mind.

Well, they can ponder this later.

Kyo walked on into the light.

They came to in a silent room. Kyo took a glance at Io. 

… She seemed fine. They then turned their attention to the silent Louis, who was looking down at his feet.

“...Back then, I had no idea what would happen.” He started. “As Operation Queenslayer dragged on with no foreseeable end, even children were turned into revenants and sent out to fight.”

Kyo frowned. 

Children? Was he referring to Kevin? 

Or… was there perhaps children even younger than that?

“And then, when it was over, both the strong and the weak were ravaged by bloodthirst. But with resources thin, they had nowhere to turn.”

They remember… blood beads only appeared after the war. So, before that then… there would only be human blood that could quench a revenant’s thirst.

“I wanted to do something-to do anything-to help. That’s honestly all there was to it.”

They went to say something, but the next sentence made them pause.

“It never occurred to me that my actions could lead to such tragedy.”

“What do you-” But Louis walked away after saying that.

They watched him return to his shelter behind the books before turning to Io.

“Are you alright?” They asked her. She nodded.

“No aches, no dizziness?” She shook her head.

“What about you?” She asked. Kyo frowned. They felt a bit warm but… They placed a hand on their forehead. 

Nothing to be concerned about.

“I’m fine.” They answered. She stared up at them.

“Will you be leaving now?”

Ah, that’s right, they were planning to leave today.

“Yes.” Kyo nodded. “Will you be fine?”

Io slowly nodded her head.

“Alright, then, I’ll be going.”

With a small pat to Io’s head, Kyo stood.

Grabbing their sword, they rushed outside, ignoring the eyes that followed them along the way.

* * *

This was the new normal. An eerie silence over the base while Kyo leaves about every three days.

But Kyo didn’t mind, this gave them more time to figure things out and think.

There was some progress in their experimenting in blood codes.

The only problem was dealing with Louis.

After viewing the memory vestige, Louis had left them be.

But they found it odd.

Louis must know that viewing a vestige was a breach of privacy. They know he wasn’t a fool.

So why was he so comfortable in showing them his memories, dark secrets and all, but he still won’t tell them what the hell had happened that day?

Did they try to kill him or something?

They would like to know.

But today, there was a change in routine.

Kyo was traveling to the cocoon area. 

They had found it to be very beneficial, it was surrounded so Kyo didn’t have to worry about Lost attacking them from behind.

It was also a wide area where they could have space to move around comfortably.

As they were traveling to the entrance to the city, someone caught their eye.

The man was resting close to the mistle they had rejuvenated during the night. The one where Oliver had…

The man saw them, raising a hand up in greeting.

“Yo.” When he saw Kyo come closer he stood. “You're exploring the area too?”

Kyo eyed the man warily. 

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m just a merchant.” Kyo frowned.

“A merchant?”

“A merchant of sorts. I wander around selling valuables as I explore.”

Kyo remained silent, but the man took that as an initiative to keep talking.

“The miasma has gotten pretty thin here lately, eh? I thought it might be dangerous, but I came all the same.”

He looked Kyo over.

“I haven’t seen a fellow explorer for a while, though. I think we were fated to meet. Take this map of the depths.”

“Wha-” The man threw something towards Kyo. As they caught it Kyo glared over at the man.

“I’ll be around here for a while. If you want to buy anything, let me know.” He said.

Kyo huffed as they unraveled what he threw at them. 

…

It really was a map. They looked back over at the man.

“Why did you give this to me?”

“What’s with that look? Can’t I just give someone a gift?” Kyo glared at him.

“No. Now hurry up and tell me or I’ll rip the map up.” That managed to get a reaction.

“Heyheyhey- don’t be so reckless!” He waved his hands around, which Kyo assumed was a way to placate them. “Alright, alright, I’ll squeal.”

To show that Kyo wouldn’t rip up the map now, they neatly tucked it into their vest. Afterwards the man relaxed.

“As you travel around, you might find fragments of past civilization, materials from the old world. I collect stuff like that. A lot of rare things turn up in the depths.” He explained.

“So why give the map to me?” Kyo asked again.

“Well… Even in the depths nearby, the Lost are too powerful, so I can’t dig around. So, if you’re headed there, I’d like you to look around for any rare materials. Oh! And remember to look at the map I gave you if you need to double check the location.”

Kyo narrowed their eyes at him.

“So, what you’re basically saying is…”

“I’d like you to dig up some rare materials from the area in the depths marked on the map I gave you.” The man shamelessly answered.

“...” 

“...”

“... And why should I trust you? No- actually, why would I even bring the materials back to you anyway?!”

“Well, it’s only something I would use, so it’s kinda worthless…” The man replied, not at all bothered by Kyo’s anger.

Kyo raised a hand to their head.

“Am I really supposed to trust the word of a man I don’t even know?” They mumbled.

“Oh, call me Shang.”

“...” Kyo let out a sigh. “Alright then, Shang, do you know how to get there?”

“Nope.” He answered readily.

“...”

Just walk away Kyo, they mutter the mantra in their head. Just walk away.

“Have fun exploring!” Was the parting words of the merchant Shang.

...

So Kyo decided to travel around for today to see where the depth was.

The trip was fruitless. However, near the end of the day, close to where the cocoon was... 

They had gone down a ladder that they had ignored before, which had led to a barren area with a statue. 

And there, behind the statue, was a vestige. 

They walked closer to hear its whispers.

…

No doubt about it, it was Louis’ vestige.

* * *

Louis was in deep thought. 

He was unsure in dealing with his current predicament. 

And by current predicament, he meant Kyo-or rather, Kyo’s anger and distrust at him.

He was hoping that letting Kyo cool off the past few days would make them more amiable, but Kyo was proving to be rather steadfast in their demands.

He couldn’t tell them what happened, not until he had everything figured out.

So, he had tried to approach them using his vestige.

There he could see Kyo let their guard down a bit, but afterwards it went right back up.

Speaking of his memory… he wasn’t surprised at the contents that much. In short everything shown was something that he could see himself doing.

Including…

The door opened and in walked the source of his worries.

However, instead of Kyo walking in and ignoring him, today they walked up to his desk.

“What is-” before he could finish his sentence, Kyo placed a red object down on his desk.

A vestige. With his voice.

“It’s incomplete, I haven’t found the other one. Sorry.” And with that curt tone, Kyo went back to ignoring him as they walked away.

Kyo’s silence once again persisted all night.

The next day Kyo was once again sitting with Io as they both ignored everyone else, except maybe Murasame. 

Yakumo had actually removed himself from this problem entirely.

Louis wasn’t surprised, after all, Yakumo had actually disagreed with Louis on hiding information from Kyo.

If it had been anything else, Yakumo would’ve stepped in and tried to force Kyo to start talking with him.

But since the source of the problem is something that he agrees with… And was someone they also needed...

Well, as long Kyo doesn’t run away or start a fight, Yakumo won’t get involved.

Which, frankly, is for the better; while Yakumo could deal with someone in an argument, he often resorts to force rather quickly.

The first day passed since Kyo’s trip and Kyo still was ignoring him.

The second day followed the same pattern.

On the third day, the night before Kyo would leave again, Louis was at his wit’s end.

He was pacing in his room. 

How would he get Kyo to trust him again?

Kyo did not want him to approach them, unless it was for something related to their powers…

And he had no need to explore as of now.

He ran many scenarios in his mind. 

The only time he was allowed close was with his vestige.

...

Wait.

Louis turned to the vestige on his desk.

Maybe…

* * *

Kyo was getting ready to set out again.

What they had planned this time was to see if they could go find the depths that merchant, Shang, wanted them to find.

If they can’t then they would focus on training.

As Kyo walked out, the scene that greeted them was surprising, to say the least.

Louis was also geared up and was waiting in the living space.

As he heard them walk out, he turned to them.

Neither attempted to speak to the other.

But, luckily for Louis, Kyo was somewhat impatient today.

“Are you planning to go somewhere?” They asked.

Usually Louis or Yakumo left around the afternoon, never in the morning.

Louis stayed silent for a minute before answering.

“I was hoping to travel with you in order to find the other part of my vestige.”

Kyo frowned.

They did not want to be close to him. But… they did say to only come to them for things like vestiges.

Kyo pondered for a minute.

“Fine.” They did say they would deal with things like vestiges, they won’t go back on their word.

Louis let out a sigh.

“Thank you.” Truth be told, Louis wasn’t sure that it would work. Afterall, Kyo could’ve just said that he could go find it himself.

But luckily, his gamble paid off.

Kyo decided to push the boundaries of the unspoken rules, so Louis figured he could do the same.

Now… to gain their trust back.

No matter how slow.

Kyo turned to Io, who was watching the two of them.

“Up again?” They ask as they walk over to her.

“Wanted to see you leave.” She said. Kyo hummed as they reached up to pat her head.

“Then, I’ll be leaving now, okay?” Io nodded.

“Okay.” Kyo ruffled her already messy hair before stepping back.

Kyo made sure that they had everything before leaving, with Louis following behind.

* * *

The walk to the city ruins was quiet.

Kyo noticed that Shang wasn’t at the mistle when they arrived.

“You revived it?” Louis asked.

“Yes, and I made sure no one was around.” He didn’t ask any more questions.

Only when they were at the entrance to the city ruins did Kyo speak.

“There’s no need to go past the cliff with the thorns, I’ve already searched there. If your vestige is around it should be on this side.”

“I see.” Was all Louis said. Kyo adjusted their mask before turning to him.

“Where would you like to search first?” After all, it’s his vestige, he should have some idea of where it might be.

“Actually… I was hoping for you to lead.” Kyo frowned.

“Why?” Louis stared at them. Kyo shifted on their feet as he continued to stay silent.

“I haven’t been in this area for quite some time.” Louis eventually said. “This place wasn’t always laid out like this.”

Kyo stared at him.

“...So, what you’re saying is-”

“The environment has changed, even if we were to go and visit places I’ve been to, there’s a chance it might not even be there anymore.”

“...” Kyo fell into thought.

Could the land change that much?

Looking at Louis’ map back at the base, Kyo could tell there were no major changes since he hadn’t adjusted it, but smaller ones...

“In short, you know the layout of this place better than me.” Louis finished.

‘Is that how it is?’

Kyo thought it was strange that there was no progress in Louis’ exploration. After all, if Louis had been here before, then he should know other ways into that pit he was trying to enter. They thought he was actively exploring around this area, but… could it be that he was _just_ going to that pit to check on the elevator?

Kyo sighed. 

No, it’s better to think about this later.

“Then, do you have an idea of where you want to go?” Even if he doesn’t know the exact layout of this place, he should have some idea as to how things changed and where to go.

“Sorry, I don't have any ideas.”

“... Understood.” Kyo tilted their head. “I guess we can go to the parking garage and figure out where to go from there.”

Louis nodded.

The trip to the parking garage was, thankfully, quiet and the Lost encountered was sparse. 

Kyo took a break at the mistle to think about what to do next.

‘Since this is the only way to the pit, then Louis must’ve gone there a lot, he should’ve been able to notice something…’ Kyo thought as they looked over the ladder.

‘Then, it would be better to go the other way.’ 

Mind made up, Kyo walked over to the steel door.

“Did you open it?” Louis asked.

Kyo nodded, they were planning to walk down the stairs when they stopped.

“I have a question to ask you.” Louis didn’t even blink.

“What is it?” Kyo pointed to the steel door.

“Did the government put that there?” They had found it odd that amidst ruins there was a steel door, even though there weren't any other doors on this building.

“Most likely.” Kyo tilted their head.

“Why?” Louis paused.

“I don’t know. However, since there is a government ladder close by, I assume they were planning to use this building for something. Maybe a watchtower.” Kyo nodded as they took in the information before they began walking down the stairs.

A growl caused the both of them to stop once they reached the bottom. There, held back behind a flimsy fence, were two Lost; growling as it dug at the ground.

“Hm?” What caught Kyo’s interest was a red glow that could only be visible as the Lost dug up the rubble. “A vestige.”

Perhaps Kyo could end this awkward trip sooner than expected.

Now, to get over there.

Kyo, as slowly and quietly as possible, descended down the remaining steps. They could feel Louis following. As they moved towards the door, Kyo stopped again.

“What…” At once of the entrances a Lost stood, back facing them. Already, Kyo could feel something was off today.

However, they were not to be deterred. Once again, Kyo walked over to the Lost.

Closer.

And closer.

Once Kyo was right behind it, they rushed blood into their hand, slamming it into the Lost’s back. The Lost jerked forward, a small yell escaping its body. Kyo stabbed it in the back deeper before pulling the claw out, watching as it fell to the floor, before stabbing it through the chest and cutting the sword through the body.

It dispersed, but Kyo did not move from the spot.

“What is it?” Louis noticed the odd behavior. “Do you think there’ll be an ambush?”

“It’s likely…” Kyo mumbled. “They’re out and are already in spotting positions.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.” Louis said. Kyo wasn’t surprised, after all he has much more experience than them.

They both walked carefully, as bodies of “dead” Lost were piled around them.

As Kyo walked, they abruptly turned as a Lost jerked. Louis struck it as Kyo leaped back. Louis slashed it before jumping back as lightning crackled through the Lost.

It let out as groan as it dispersed.

Kyo turned back to the Lost lying against rubble.

It was a short passage, should they just rush through or walk carefully?

Kyo watched as Louis turned to look at the bodies with a keen eye.

They both walked forward in silence. As the duo reached close to a ruined vehicle, two Lost that were leaning against it jumped up to attack.

They each took out one and only managed to breathe a sigh of relief once they were away from the passage.

Something caught Kyo’s eye and they saw another Lost standing at the end of the ruined road, back facing them.

“Another one…” Louis muttered.

Kyo walked forward again.

Slowly.

And like before, Kyo managed to stun it to stab it through the back, disposing it like earlier.

Kyo and Louis peeked around the corner to the area that they were planning to go to.

“The Lost… they…” Behind them Louis muttered:

“They’re acting like slave drivers. Is that who they were in life?” Here, Kyo turned to Louis with a bit of interest.

“The Lost can remember their lives?” Louis shook his head.

“Not exactly.” And he took time to explain as quietly as he could. “It is, rather, ingrained into their body. Besides a thirst for blood, there is not that much higher thinking.”

“... I understand.” Was all Kyo said.

“One’s coming this way.” Louis said, causing Kyo to turn back.

A Lost with a shield and lance was slowly walking over.

“What should we do?” Kyo titled their head.

“Let’s wait a bit.”

They both kept their eyes on the marching Lost, watching as it patrolled. Gradually, it moved further away from its group of Lost.

Just when it was about to turn around was when Kyo stepped out and fired lightning at it.

They were hoping that it would’ve moved out further, but if this is the most then Kyo will take that chance.

The Lost jerked but was standing strong. After catching Kyo in its eye, it raised its shield and began to march.

Kyo sighed in relief. For some reason it won’t call the others, so that makes it easier.

Its march was slow, so Kyo stood still until it would get closer, not wanting it to run back to its group. Kyo moved back; slowly and slowly, until they lured it behind the packed rubble.

Once they were sure that it was behind the rubble, Kyo stopped. 

They both stared each other down, the Lost seemed unsure as to what to do.

But that pause gave Louis enough time to run and attack it from behind.

Louis managed to strike at it before it drew its attention to him, by then Kyo ran up to attack.

One thing that Kyo has learned about these shield wielding Lost was that they use shields to protect themselves from attacks, since their defenses were usually so weak.

So, it went down rather quickly after Kyo attacked it from behind.

As they both watched the Lost disperse, they turned their attention to the remaining Lost back over at the precipice. While the Lost were close to the edge, there was a wide enough space for them to not slip off.

“What now?” Louis asked. Kyo looked over at the red spiked Lost, that was apparently the second in command.

“I don’t think I can throw a projectile at this distance.” They muttered.

Louis looked over at the edge.

“I would be bad to fight over there.” Kyo turned and saw him looking at a Lost digging close to the cliff.

“Then, the only choice left is…” Kyo turned to the two Lost digging close to the fence. “To attack them.”

“We’ll be attacked from behind.” Louis said. 

Kyo furrowed their brows. This situation… It’s not optional…

“Can you attack that one?” Louis said, gesturing over to the one on the cliff.

Kyo turned over to judge the distance.

It was much closer.

“Maybe. Shall I try?” Louis turned to the group.

“... No.” 

“What?” Kyo looked at him. 

“On second thought, it might cause the others to rush over here. I’d rather fight on wider ground.” Kyo narrowed their eyes.

“Then…” They watched as Louis gripped his sword.

“We’ll attack the two close to the fence and deal with the others afterwards.” They nodded. 

“I understand.”

Luckily for them, the two Lost were those grey ones. Usually, this meant that the Lost’s reaction time was slow, so it was easy to catch the Lost by surprise. 

As expected, the other two Lost saw them and came running.

One was a grey Lost, so that was easy to deal with.

The problem was the spiked one. Kyo knows that it relies on close combat with its spikes causing damage.

It lunged towards Kyo, throwing its whole body forward. As Kyo sidestepped that, the Lost shifted its weight to its hands, and started to spin its legs around. 

“Tch.” Kyo jumped back.

The Lost saw its prey escaping and went to stand just as a large fireball engulfed it. It was damaged greatly but was still standing. However, a few swings of a sword corrected that.

With all the obstacles gone, Kyo turned to the vestige. They walked over to it and picked it up.

…

Yup.

Kyo turned and threw the vestige at Louis.

“It’s yours.” With that out of the way, Kyo stood back up and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Louis asked as he watched them.

“Away. That’s the other half of your vestige, so you don’t need me anymore.” Kyo started to walk away again, but Louis was determined.

“Wait.” Kyo frowned.

“What is it?” They asked, turning back to him. Louis stared at them, causing Kyo to frown more behind their mask.

“Would you help me with something?”

“That depends. Is it related to my powers?” Louis went quiet again before answering.

“No.”

“Then that’s your answer.” Kyo tried to leave quickly, the way Louis was trying to get them to help him was suspicious.

“Wait!” This time, Louis’ shout was louder, which made Kyo want to run. But they had the unfortunate realization that they were currently employed by him and would, one way or another, be seeing him again. 

So, they stopped.

“What.” Louis went silent, again, as he stared at them. 

“I understand that you would rather be doing something else however, I would like your assistance for something.” Kyo sighed as they turned back to him.

“What is it?” 

“Do you remember that pit we went to?” Kyo nodded. “Well, I would like for you to come and help me look it over.”

“And why do you need my help? I know you’ve been heading there on your own.” At that Louis paused but continued speaking.

“You saw it today, there might be swarms of Lost roaming around here. It would be best to stick together.”

“What do you mean?” Kyo thought about the types of Lost they had encountered today. “Do you mean the Lost thralls and their leaders?”

“Yes.” Kyo looked at Louis, an impassive look on their face, but Louis could see a hint of suspicion in them

“You… do you think something’s going on?”

“Yes.” Louis said without pause.

Kyo mulled it over. If it was something to make Louis pause, they should take note of it. And maybe they can get some more information about this world.

Coco might have the basics of what’s happening, but combat is something only Louis and Yakumo know about apparently.

“Very well. I’ll assist you.”

“Thank you.” Kyo knows he has an agenda; they just wish he could come out and say it and not use this faux courtesy. 

The trip to the pit wasn’t that difficult. But soon, Kyo began to notice that there were many of the same types of Lost they had just encountered.

“Wait.” Louis said as he stopped. Up ahead was a crossroads and Kyo saw a line of Lost.

“What?” Kyo couldn't help but mutter. Even if Louis had said there was no higher thinking, this seemed to be an intelligent act.

“The Lost here are acting like slave owners too.” Louis said. Kyo thought back to Louis’ earlier words.

“When you said you thought something might happen…”

“What was it like at the slave pens?” Louis cut them off with a question. Kyo glanced over to him.

“... What do you mean?”

“Did you notice anything?” Kyo looked at him, tilting their head as they narrowed their eyes.

“Why?” It was then that Louis decided to explain what he knew.

“Usually, slave owners have multiple groups; well, it’s how it was back then. Now, it might be smaller with everyone joining the ranks of the Lost.” Kyo frowned, lost in thought.

“Multiple groups…” Kyo muttered. 

And something clicked. Kyo’s eyes widened. 

“Wait!”

“What is it?” Louis hasn’t seen that type of expression on them before.

“I never saw Oliver in the pens with me.” Kyo explained. “Yet he was there when I showed up to look for blood beads.”

Come to think of it… the other two that were dragged out with them. Kyo didn’t see them until they were brought before the leader.

Does that mean… there were more people that they missed?

“I see.” Kyo glanced back at Louis.

“Is that all?” Kyo asked. To show that there were squads of Lost mimicking it’s actions it took in life, was that all he wanted to show them?

“For now.” Louis concurred. They both looked back at the marching Lost.

“So, what do you want to do?” Kyo asked. 

“We could take them one at a time.” Louis suggested. It would be somewhat difficult, since they’re so close together. But it was doable.

“No, let's wait a bit.” Louis turned to Kyo, surprised by their decision. 

“Why?”

“If what you’re saying is true, then they might not even move towards the pit.” Kyo answered. If the Lost mimics it’s actions in life, then the Lost hoard shouldn't move towards the pit if it was around long enough. “So, let’s just wait and see.”

They both watched as the Lost straggled on. Eventually, the group of Lost turned towards the right.

Kyo waited a few more minutes before they started to walk.

“There, now it shouldn’t be too difficult to get to the hole.”

And as they both traveled the short walk to the pit, Louis noted that Kyo’s words were true, the Lost hoard had walked away, but there was a chance it could circle around again.

Louis and Kyo went down the ladder and Louis went to test the elevator.

Nothing.

Kyo waited until Louis grabbed his sword before they asked him:

“Is that it?” Louis stayed silent. “If that’s all you need me for, I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Kyo turned and they heard Louis call them.

“Wait.” Kyo frowned as they turned back.

“What else do you need me for?” Louis didn’t have an answer. “You don’t need me for anything right now, so why are you bothering?”

He said nothing still.

“Listen, I already agreed to help you until you reached your goal, I’m not going back on my word, so you don’t have to attempt to be friendly with me.” They turned away again. “See ya.”

“Wait.” Louis called again.

Kyo audibly sighed. 

“What do you want?” This time, Louis began speaking.

“I understand that you dislike me, but I believe that it would be safer for you to partner with someone while you’re exploring.”

“Listen, while you might be worried, I have already told you I don’t want to be anywhere near you.” Louis didn’t seem bothered by that blunt confession.

“Why?” Was all he said. Kyo glared at him.

Why? Did he forget what they said to him?

“You don’t trust me enough to reveal to me information about myself.” Kyo reminded him. “I’m not even asking you to trust me with anything else, I just want to know what happened. But since you won’t tell me, then understand that I have some things to figure out for myself since you won’t help.”

“I can help you with whatever you need.” Louis immediately offered, as if they weren’t having a conversation about how he couldn’t. 

“Then why don’t you tell me what happened.” Kyo said, crossing their arms. As expected, Louis disagreed.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” He said. Kyo huffed, dropping their arms.

“Then you cannot help me. If something happens, can I rely on you to tell me so I can figure out what went wrong? It’s my body so if there are any changes, I should notice it before you.”

Louis didn’t have anything to say. Kyo closed their eyes and rubbed their temple.

“This talk is going nowhere.” But Louis was very determined.

“If you don’t want to work with me then maybe Yakumo-” Kyo frowned harder.

“I trust Yakumo even less than you.” At that Louis was rather flustered.

“Then, what else-”

“Nothing.” Kyo cut him off with a shake of their head.

“Then-”

“Nothing.” Kyo repeated. Silence fell between the two. Louis was looking troubled at the brick wall he was facing. Kyo went to leave again, but Louis actually rushed to stop them, blocking the exit.

...But he was still silent.

“I am curious, why can’t you just tell me?” Since he won’t tell them, let’s hear his reasoning then.

“...” They suppose that when Louis doesn’t want to talk, he’ll stay silent up to his death.

Kyo’s pretty sure that Louis knows he can’t keep this going since he stood still as they walked past him.

“-stake.” It was so soft that Kyo wasn’t sure that they heard it at all.

“What?” They turned back to Louis who was staring at them with a pained expression. But they were sure it wasn’t because of this little spat they were having.

“I cannot make another mistake.” Kyo was taken aback by this reasoning. 

“If I misdiagnose you and you fall ill…” Louis cut himself off. 

“I-I can’t make a mistake.” He repeated again. “So please wait until I have figured everything out.”

...Ah. They think they have it figured out now. But… does he really think that he has that much power?

That if he makes a mistake, they would die? Kyo walked back to him.

“Tell me, is this your mistake to make?” Kyo asked him. Louis looked confused by the question.

“What do you mean?”

“Is this even your mistake to make?” Kuo repeated. “You have no control over this body. I understand you might be worried, but understand this; even if you can find out what’s wrong with me, would that make me better?”

“...” At that Louis could only stay silent. Kyo wanted to sigh, but they continued.

“This is unknown territory so mistakes can happen no doubt, but is this mistake your responsibility to take? Even if you did make a misdiagnosis and I got hurt, I have enough thought to not blame you for that.” Here Kyo did sigh as they felt a tiredness engulf them. But Louis has to know. 

“I know you don’t mean to hurt me, so I won’t be angry.” Kyo looked at Louis straight in the eyes. “Is that what you’re scared of? Me blaming you?”

But Louis didn’t answer, electing to stay silent. Seeing as he didn’t want to answer, Kyo stepped back to walk away.

“That’s all I have to say.” But it seems… that something got through to him. As he muttered something.

“...die…” Kyo turned back once again, wondering what Louis would have to say.

“Hm?” Louis looked at them, but there was an odd expression that Kyo could discern, even with most of his face hidden.

It was fear.

“You said: ‘So this is how it feels to die.” And like that a dam broke. “You had a fever for so long and there was no medication to lower your temperature, your eyes were glowing red again, you were clutching at your chest, I think you were having trouble breathing, you didn’t respond to me or Yakumo and then… it just stopped.”

Kyo stayed quiet as they took in the information. 

That’s what happened?

“So, I can't let you get hurt, not when I can prevent that, not when I can stop it.” Kyo stared at the silent Louis, taking in his posture and worry as he looked at them, wanting them to leave everything to him. 

Please let me take care of you, his expression screamed.

Kyo leaned against the wall, an airy breath escaping them.

“I have dreams.” They start. This grabbed Louis’ attention. “Most of the time, I’m battling Lost. I’m in places I don’t recognize and I’m sure… that I could have experienced some deaths.”

“Are they your memories?” Kyo furrowed their brows.

“I don’t know, but from what I can tell… it’s unlikely.” They closed their eyes, remembering. “Sometimes I’m fighting in a completely different style, with axes or with hammers. Sometimes… I think I am them, living out their memories.”

“What-What do you mean?” Kyo could hear the fear in his voice, even if his tone was calm.

But, how to explain this?

“... Do you remember the Lost we faced when we first met?” Kyo asked. Louis nodded.

“Yes.” Kyo looked away, opting to stare at the corner of the entryway.

“You know he… Who he was before… You saw his memories.” Kyo took in a breath as Louis nodded. 

“I experienced it. No… I “lived” it. His guilt, his regrets. Sometimes, I take up the hammer and fight. And kill. Enough that when I wake up… I expect to still be holding that hammer, and to still be sleeping in ruins.”

Louis had nothing to say at the reveal.

“It was a hectic day.” Kyo said, echoing Louis’ words that day. “So, it’s entirely possible that it was one of my episodes… but it also could’ve been a reaction from the dreams.”

But that did not comfort Louis. If anything, that made him even more panicked.

“Are you saying the blood codes you take affect you like this; enough that you could experience being them.” Louis asked, voice soft. But Kyo could see his thoughts racing.

“I don’t know.” They admitted. “It could be, but I cannot experiment on myself like that. Though, I haven’t had them for the past few days.”

At that reveal, Louis’ dropped his calm facade. 

“Then that means you have to rest; you can’t strain yourself!” Kyo could feel themself frowning again as Louis was repeating himself.

“Can you say that I won’t strain myself once we start exploring again?” Kyo clarified. “Will you always be there so if something happens, you can help me?”

Louis stopped as he had to think about it… About the possibilities of exploration. And how Kyo could very well die with or without him even being there.

“I’m not as experienced as you, I know that. But I have to learn how to fight on my own. And I have to learn what I can or can’t do. I also have to see what could cause those fits and try to control or avoid setting it off.” Kyo looked over at Louis.

“Sitting around doesn’t help me neither will hiding things from me.” They finish shooting a pointed look at him.

At that he didn’t have anything to say. And silence fell once again.

Kyo wasn’t sure about what to do now. They did say that they did not want to cooperate with him with anything, sans their powers, until he told them what had happened. 

And he did. Which was somewhat unexpected. Kyo thought he would’ve been more stubborn.

They didn’t really plan on how to deal with the aftermath...

“What will you do now?” Louis asked out of the blue. Kyo couldn’t understand the change in subject.

“What do you mean?”

“Will you go and continue your training?” Kyo tilted their head. They… don’t feel like it right now. 

Looks like the argument took a lot out of them.

“... I’m a bit tired.” Kyo admitted.

“Then, let’s go back.” Louis suggested. Kyo remained silent, unsure if they should. They have to get better. But they really can’t think about doing anything else.

“It’s fine to take breaks.” Louis continued. Kyo stared at him for a bit, wondering why he was still so insistent on taking care of them even after this argument. But… they want to rest for a bit before plunging themself down into theories.

“Alright.” They said in the end.

The trip back to base was quiet. It wasn’t tense but there was an uncertainty in the air.

They weren’t even gone that long; the sun hasn’t even reached the zenith.

The rest of their thoughts were occupied with what they were going to do at the base.

When the duo walked through the door the base went silent. There wasn’t much conversation, but there was still small talk that had stopped at their arrival.

Kyo walked over to their room, leaving Louis to deal with the questioning looks.

* * *

Seems like Louis ended up explaining that the fight was over. It was still awkward when Kyo would be out and sitting with Io.

But there was a noticeable lack of tension.

The silence continued up to the third day, where Kyo decided to stay at base and not head out.

Kyo sighed. They truly felt no motivation to go outside.

Have they hit a rut?

Seems like Io also noticed that something was wrong.

“You are not leaving?” She asked, tilting her head to look at them.

“Yeah.” Kyo sighed.

“Is something wrong?” They could see that Io was getting ready to sit up and look them over.

“No, no I’m not hurt.” Kyo consoled. “I just don’t feel like doing anything.”

She stared at them for some time before laying back down.

“It’s fine to relax.” Was all she said. Kyo hummed and started stroking her hair again, trying to lull her back to sleep.

The silence continued into the night.

Kyo was sitting on the couch, watching as Io was looking up at the night sky.

She enjoys the night sky, Kyo thought. Always amazed at the stars.

They heard footsteps approaching them, causing them to turn and see Louis walking over to them.

He didn’t say anything, causing Kyo to look him over. There they could see a red item in his hand.

“What is it?” They’ll give him the courtesy then. As expected, Louis held up his hand, opening it to show the vestige pieces.

“If you’ll allow it, I’d like to see what’s inside.” Kyo breathed out as they stood, walking over to Io.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Louis’ vestige,” Kyo gestured to said item. “Do you want to repair it?”

Io turned over to Louis. She stared at him for some time. Kyo couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about.

Eventually she turned to Kyo and nodded. At that Kyo heard Louis approach them, dropping the pieces into Kyo’s hand when they reached out.

Like always, Kyo gave the items to Io watching as she pierced her hand; and a bright light shone as spikes dug into their hand, the forgotten regrets making itself known. 

Kyo found themself standing in desolate ruins with trees and grass amidst concrete... and the memory started to speak.

“Kevin was a boy who had been enslaved by a group of merciless revenants.” It explained.

Kyo approached the memory, seeing that Louis was sitting close to the boy, Kevin. In fact, even if they couldn’t see his face, it looked like Louis was enjoying himself as he talked with Kevin.

“Over time, stopping by to give him blood beads became something of a routine.” 

The image flickered out and Kyo walked on.

“But one day, the pattern was broken.” The memory said in the wandering darkness of rubble. 

A light shined on Louis’ lone figure, standing amidst ruins.

“When I went to see him, he was nowhere to be found, and his dwelling had been torn apart.” Louis’ voice explained. “I heard everything from someone who said they knew Kevin.”

The voice cut off. But the light still shined on Louis’ form. Perhaps it was the contents of the vestige, but Kyo could feel that… guilt was eating him alive.

“A few days earlier, a revenant had attacked him… and turned him to ash. The attacker was after the blood beads I’d given Kevin.”

With that, the light died, and the memory made way for Kyo to exit. 

They awoke to a silent Louis, who was looking down, hair shadowing his expression.

Slowly, he opened his mouth and began to speak.

“I thought that I could save him by giving him blood beads… that it would be enough… but I lacked true commitment to his survival... And in the end, that’s what killed him.”

...

Kyo could've stayed silent and waited for Louis to walk away. Their relationship wasn’t that of a friend so there was no need to comfort him.

But while Louis’ face may be blank, they could feel the pain that he was hiding.

And for some reason, they couldn’t stand it. That pointless blame onto oneself.

“I don’t think that’s the case.” Kyo said. 

After all… Who knows what was truly going on at that time? 

Of course they could see it from Louis’ perspective. If he had taken Kevin with him, Kevin wouldn't have been killed by a passing revenant.

But the opposite case could also be made. If Louis had taken Kevin under his wing, there was a chance that he could’ve died and this man would blame himself, saying that he should’ve just let the boy be.

So, with this regret. Kyo didn’t know what to do. Or how to convey that.

But it looks like Louis was dead set on his mindset.

“I appreciate your kindness, but it’s unnecessary. It is what it is.” He said. It appeared that his mind was made up as he walked away to bask in his newfound guilt.

… Ha.

Come to think of it… he was doing the same thing to them, wasn’t he?

Taking care of them but having no desire to actually cooperate with them.

… Ah, that might explain it.

After making sure that Io was fine Kyo moved back to their spot on the couch to think about what they had just seen.

First Cruz and now Kevin.

Memory was an odd thing, Kyo had discovered. Even if you forget there will be a part of that memory that would always stay.

Guilt is Louis’ invisible scar. Guilt over not saving Cruz and the death of his sister. And perhaps the forgotten guilt of not saving Kevin.

Was that why he was hovering around them so unnecessarily?

Hiding their condition from them to the point of detriment, just so he can’t make another mistake?

… They were not Cruz. He cannot help them by confining them to a room to be checked on by others, hoping that they would be saved once he noticed something was wrong.

Nor where they Kevin, someone who should be hidden from the world and to be taken care of in a cage, hoping that they would be fine with just that.

Kyo would not say that Louis’ actions are correct or incorrect, they do not have the foresight for that.

But they hope he understands that if he wants them to help him with his goal, he cannot just keep them in the dark.

Kyo will not ask for friendship, but what they want is cooperation.

Cooperation in allowing them to understand what was happening with their body.

And the freedom to make their own decisions, even if mistakes arise from those choices.

You cannot control the world. Mistakes will come even if you do everything right. 

… 

So, prepare the best you can and save the world, Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wondered about a few things.
> 
> Originally, Code Vein was suppose to be a much darker game,
> 
> You could see this with some trailers.
> 
> There was one with Yakumo threatening the player with a gun.
> 
> I think the translation went: "If I see you doing anything suspicious, I'll shoot you through the heart."
> 
> And you could see the apple in the Player's hand. So yeah I think that Yakumo was originally a lot more hostile, which I showed in this chapter.
> 
> So that made me wonder... What would Louis' "dark side" be like.
> 
> Well if Yakumo is all brawn, I focused more on brains more Louis.
> 
> Lying, manipulation, all those that could make someone rush through mental gymnastics to understand.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed my characterization, though I understand that people would prefer "open-hearted" Louis. I just can't see that happening. Not now. Especially not in Code Vein.
> 
> Oh and who wants to see a picture of Kyo? I do want to leave Kyo's looks up to the reader, but at the same time, I want to show off my baby.
> 
> And again, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay safe, everyone!


	6. Chapter 6

Shit.

Fuck.

This hurts.

… They really got hurt huh.

But they were still alive.

Kyo turned over onto their stomach, coughing up blood.

Everything hurts and Kyo felt lightheaded.

But… looks like this little beatdown gave them something valuable.

Slowly, Kyo stood, using their sword as a crutch.

They hobbled over to the broken planks and fell to their knees.

And with bloodied hands, began to dig around.

“It was here, I know it was…” Kyo mumbled, throwing splinters of wood around. Soon, they found it. A red stone gleaming in their hand.

Kyo reached into their pocket and dug out another one.

“Yeah, matches…” They grabbed the items tight in their hand.

They stood again, groaning as pain shot through them.

“Fucking hell. Damn bastards.” Their curses grew once Kyo realized they had to climb up the stairs to reach the mistle.

They hope the blood wouldn’t draw more of the damn things back here.

It felt like eternity to Kyo, putting one step up after another as they ignored their wounds.

But they reached the door and pushed it open.

Kyo used the wall as support to walk to the mistle.

Once they reached the support beam closest to the mistle, Kyo collapsed to the ground, leaning against it.

...

Hopefully, they recover quickly.

They know it’s bad, but they don’t want to give Louis a legitimate reason to lock them up.

…

They feel their eyes drooping.

...

Fine. 

Let’s… just take a break now.

Let’s sleep a bit now.

…

…

* * *

It was a few days after their “reconciliation” with Louis that Coco showed back up again.

“Looks like I missed everything.” Coco said to them.

“Did you even want to be around for that?” Kyo asked in reply. All she did was shrug her shoulders.

It seems with Coco’s return; the base became a bit livelier.

Perhaps it was because everyone was taking their mind off the argument the two groups had.

Even with all of that… Kyo’s tiredness persisted. Enough so that even Coco could see it.

“A little birdie told me that you would usually leave pretty often. What’s with the change?” She asked.

Kyo blinked. 

Well, she certainly chose a time to ask them about this.

Io was sleeping. Louis and Yakumo were out and Murasame was working in her workshop.

“I just… don’t feel like it anymore.” They said. “I could get up and go, but… for some reason I’m tired.”

Of course, this led to Louis taking even more blood from them, trying to figure out if their sudden drop in activity was not a symptom of something else.

“What, did you overwork yourself?” Kyo tilted their head.

“No… I don't think so.” It was a routine that they did follow and they didn’t mind it. About every three days go out, kill Lost and work on the blood codes that dwell inside of them.

But, after everything, they didn’t have any desire to go outside, even though that was the whole point of the argument.

They thought that eventually, they’d gain enough energy to start leaving again.

That doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Maybe you should try something new.” Coco suggested, which only led to a blank stare from Kyo.

“I’m not buying anything right now.” They drawled. Coco shrugged with a ‘You never know’ as she went back to check over the merch.

The days marched on and Kyo did feel the need to go out. But it was more of taking a walk rather than train. 

Nonetheless, Kyo didn’t want to sit back. Maybe they’ll fall back into rhythm when outside. 

“Will you leave now?” Io asked from her position on the bed.

“Yeah.” Was all Kyo said as they grabbed their items.

“How long will you be gone?” Kyo tilted their head.

“Who knows. I plan for this to be short, but maybe if I feel like it, I can stay out until night.” Io nodded.

“I shall wait here for your return.” Kyo looked over at the steadfast Io. Letting out a huff, they placed their items down and went over to her, placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair.

…

Hm. No reaction. 

Well, Io’s hair was always messy.

“You don’t have to wait for me. Just go and see if Murasame and Coco aren't busy if you’re bored. I’m sure they don’t mind.”

The thought of Io just sitting at her bed, waiting for them was a bit depressing. They know she can be more active, but she seemed rather subdued as of now.

Maybe it’s because Kyo and everyone else wasn’t gone from the base long enough.

Io nodded, but Kyo knew that was just her showing that she understood and not her planning to go and see the others.

Kyo went back to grab their items. As they finished they looked over at Io who was sitting on her bed, staring at them.

Hm.

Maybe they should comb her hair.

And get her to try the new clothes. She has been wearing… whatever that was for a while now.

“I’ll be off then.” Kyo informed. Io nodded.

“See you soon.” They’ll have to thank Murasame for teaching her that. Io would usually say something along the lines of ‘I will wait here for you’ or ‘I await your return.’ 

The tone was formal. Overly formal, which caused Kyo to be a bit suspicious.

Really, what was their relationship with her?

...

The walk to the parking garage was a rather peaceful one with not one disturbance.

Though at the mistle of the underground caverns, they did see remnants of someone who was resting there.

Which brought them back to the memory of Shang.

Speaking of...

They still haven’t found the way there… To that depth…

Well, guess they could look around for today.

It was at the mistle in the parking garage that Kyo realized that they haven’t really explored this place fully.

At the path that splits towards that pit… Kyo hasn’t really checked out the right one.

Could there be something over there?

Mind made up, Kyo descended the ladder.

There were a few Lost, but they were easy to deal with as Kyo made their way towards the crossroad.

It was relatively close by.

They really should explore this area more instead of just running over to the cocoon. 

...

The right path had nothing really worth noticing.

The rubble was the same as any other and the path was desolate.

No Lost either.

However at the end…

“Oh, it splits?” Into three. Not only that.

**“Damn you! You enjoy this!”** A familiar voice screamed out. They don’t know him personally, but they do know him.

“This is…” Lying under a vehicle, was a vestige. 

Kyo knelt down to pick it up. 

“Ah, this is that boy’s.” Louis dead friend, Kevin. “I guess I could go give this to him.”

As they pocketed the vestige-

Kyo heard something… close by.

Roars and screeches.

And… it was coming closer….

Kyo turned to stare down at the paths.

“What…?!”

* * *

Louis breathed out as he dropped his notes down on his desk. This action managed to draw the attention of Yakumo, who was sitting at the bar.

Yakumo raised his brows over at him, but Louis shook his head.

Really, it’s not something Yakumo could help him with anyway.

Louis head drooped as he stared over at the notes.

Nothing.

Nothing was progressing.

Not the mission nor his research into Kyo’s blood. 

After his argument with Kyo, they had become lethargic; completely unlike how they were before.

Beside asking them for blood, he hadn’t bothered them; hoping that they would recover.

But it persisted.

He checked over his notes.

Besides the increased strength of his own blood code, there was nothing. Louis leaned back, staring ahead.

Kyo had just left not too long ago.

…

Louis stood from his desk.

“Where’re you going?” Yakumo asked.

“Out.” He said. He could hear the bar chair screech as Yakumo stood, listening to him gulp down the rest of his drink.

“Wait for me.”

...

The duo’s walk started out silent but soon Yakumo started to talk to him.

“So, what’s the situation with the newbie?”

“I don’t know.” Louis answered.

“Still?” At that Louis turned and glowered at Yakumo who raised his hands up in surrender.

The walk continued quietly, until Yakumo started talking again.

“You sure that this is alright?” Louis didn’t even pause.

“What do you mean?”

“Letting them do whatever.”

“...”

There was a huge concern about Kyo going out, even excluding their condition. But right now he can’t really do anything.

The pit elevator still hasn’t worked and Coco is still having trouble trying to find the last harness for them to use.

So what could he do to keep an eye on them?

“They won’t listen to me unless it has something to do with exploration or the like.” Beside him he heard Yakumo scoff.

“You kinda deserved that one.” His glare returned but Yakumo remained unperturbed. “What, they had a point. There was no reason you should’ve kept that a secret considering that they _know_ something happened.”

He said nothing. But Yakumo continued.

“I’ll admit I made things worse, but you definitely were hounding them every day.”

“I was checking on them.” Louis retorted. “Their condition-”

Yakumo let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Their condition doesn’t mean you walk up to them every day asking for blood before backing off to go hide for the rest of the day.”

“_Yakumo_.” Said redhead shrugged.

“You know you were acting kinda weird.” Louis went silent.

“Then how else would I keep them safe?” He asked himself. 

Yakumo stopped to stare at Louis.

“... I don’t think you can.” Yakumo said in the end. “And they know it too.”

Yakumo started walking, with Louis following.

“Look, so they always stay around this area and your argument with them is over, so why don’t you-” Yakumo froze.

So did Louis.

They had just entered the parking garage but-

“The smell of blood…” 

Was strong. Louis narrowed his eyes.

“Let us tread carefully.”

Their gait slower, Louis and Yakumo traversed past the cars, tense.

Eerily enough, they couldn’t hear any Lost.

As they were walking down the decline, Louis froze, his heart lurching in his chest as he stared at the bloodied, silent figure resting against the pillar.

_“Kyo!”_

“Shit!” The duo ran over to the body, Louis dropping his sword to check them over.

“Kyo, Kyo can you hear me?” He moved the body, fear shooting through him when Kyo didn’t even move.

“Fuck, what happened?” Yakumo had dropped to his knees and was maneuvering Kyo to let them lay on the ground.

“I don’t know.” But it seems Yakumo aggravated something as Kyo’s eyes shot open and twisted out of his grasp.

Louis could hear wet coughs and quickly removed Kyo’s mask to let them dispel the blood from their lungs.

When the coughs died down Louis moved Kyo to rest on their back. Their gaze was unfocused, but still had light in them.

“Kyo,” he called again. This managed to draw their attention onto him.

“Hm?” Kyo made a sound of realization. 

“It’s you.” They said, before their face scrunched up in pain and their hands began to move to their blood veil. 

“What is it?” Louis asked in alarm. Was there something wrong with their heart?

“Something stuck-” Yakumo moved quickly, unzipping the vest and moving it out of the way.

The vest did its job of protecting its wearer, but there was still something that had managed to get through.

“Where?” Yakumo asked, hand moving up and down Kyo’s sides, checking to see if anything was wrong.

“Shoulder.” Kyo hissed out. Yakumo’s hands immediately moved there to feel the wound.

There he could feel metal embedded into flesh.

“We’re gonna have to pull it out so you can heal.” Yakumo said, looking down at Kyo.

“Fine.” Kyo grunted. Louis moved to hold Kyo down as Yakumo began to dig his fingers into the wound.

“Should’ve brought a knife.” He muttered. Eventually, Yakumo managed to get a good grasp on the metal.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.” And with all his strength, pulled. They had already started healing over it, so Yakumo had no choice but to pull at it more roughly.

The metal went out with flesh clinging to its edges.

Yakumo threw it away and the duo waited for Kyo to recover.

Louis waited until Kyo wasn’t as sickly looking before asking.

“What happened?” Kyo took in a few more breaths before they answered.

“A Lost swarm…” 

“Where?” Yakumo asked, leaning over them. It seems that the impromptu surgery has caused Kyo to be tired.

“By the right path, at the split.” 

“Did you notice anything odd?” Louis asked, he could see their eyes start to droop.

“No… I made sure-everything was clear.” Yakumo frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Behind, the swarm came from behind me.” Louis narrowed his eyes.

“I see.” Just as Kyo was about to nod off, they made another noise and began to reach into their pocket.

“What is it?” Louis asked. He was considering picking them up so they could reach better.

“Here.” In their hands was a familiar object he was getting used to seeing.

“A vestige, but…” Louis’ gaze sharpened. “That voice.”

“The boy’s…” Kyo muttered, pushing the vestiges towards him. “His memories, you might want to-”

“Alright.” Louis cut them off. “Just rest now.”

At his command, Kyo’s eyes slid shut.

But not before asking him one last thing.

“Are you going to lock me up now?”

Louis didn’t answer.

When Kyo’s breathing even out, Louis reached down and picked them up, putting their mask back on, and slowly maneuvering them to his back with Yakumo’s help.

“Sorry.” He said to Yakumo. “You’ll have to carry the swords.”

Yakumo sighed.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

Louis wasn’t really sure about carrying Kyo back like this, but he had no desire to get caught in a Lost swarm.

The way back was thankfully void of any Lost.

Kyo did not stir as they walked.

Louis expected a quiet walk back, but Yakumo started to talk.

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“What do you mean?” Louis asked from his position behind Yakumo.

Since he was going to carry Kyo, Yakumo would have to fight any Lost they do come across. 

It took a minute for Yakumo to answer.

“You gonna keep them in the base now? Not letting them go out?”

That was odd, he didn’t think Yakumo would care that much about Kyo.

“They were hurt pretty badly.” 

The duo walked on.

“That’s not an answer.” Yakumo said.

A moment of silence passed as Louis thought about Yakumo’s questions. And the reason as to why he was asking them.

“Does it matter?”

“...”

It was when they had arrived at the mistle in the entrance that Yakumo stopped.

“What is it?” There was no Lost.

“Let’s let them rest at the mistle a bit more before we bring them back to base.” Yakumo said, already placing the swords down. “We can also look and see if there’s anything else that needs to be removed.”

“... Very well.” Slowly he slid Kyo off of him and placed them close to the mistle. As he laid them down he also took off their blood veil and, with precise hands, felt around for any protrusions. 

Beneath their ribs, Louis felt something poking out.

… But the skin had healed over.

“There’s something here.” He informed. “But it’s healed.”

“So what now?” Louis leaned back.

“There’s no choice, give me my sword.” Yakumo passed it to him.

This was difficult since the weight of the sword was heavy.

…

If they were a human, he wouldn’t attempt this.

But they’re not human anymore.

He stabbed the tip of the sword around the object, cutting it deep enough that he could dig with his fingers.

It took a while for him to get a good grip on the object, so the process was slow.

Eventually he managed to pull the object out to where he could yank it out.

As blood splattered, Louis looked at the object.

A grey spike.

He tossed it away and waited for Kyo to heal, noting that they hadn’t even stirred when he was cutting into them.

He went back to feeling around for other things that could be embedded inside.

Once he made sure there was nothing left he leaned back to rest.

And Yakumo took that chance to talk to him.

“Are you going to lock them up?”

“What do you mean?” Louis repeated. Yakumo narrowed his eyes.

“You know what I mean.” Louis didn’t answer. Yakumo sighed and leaned back against the wall.

“I’m still not sure ‘bout them, but they do need to fight. They also don’t like you so you can throw away any thoughts about teaching them.”

Louis ignored him and Yakumo stopped talking for a minute. 

He didn’t stay quiet for long.

“But if you really want them to trust you, you’re gonna have to give first.” 

“... What do you mean?” He would like to stay silent, but if Yakumo can help him with Kyo...

“They already know you’re gonna be a sneaky bastard. Even though you already spilled the beans they know you’re probably gonna do it again; so, they don't wanna be anywhere near you.” Yakumo grunted, his eyes looking at the mistle.

“But right now, you’re not hiding anything, so they’re not gonna be mad at you for a bit. You can’t gain their trust cuz right now you have nothing.” Yakumo looked at him straight in the eyes. “And if you lock them up, you’re gonna end up with something less than nothing.”

“... How so?” Louis tilted his head, a mild curiosity brimming inside of him.

“You heard what they said, so if you do what they expect, then they’re definitely not gonna give you any time to get back on their good side, cuz then… they could already guess what you're gonna do. And then you’ll always be the bad guy.”

“...” He knows. He heard this from Coco about how he shouldn't baby Kyo. But they need to be safe. 

Silence settled between the two.

“But…” Yakumo continued, “if you give them something, to show that you’re listening to them, then they’ll start listening to you.” Louis raised a brow.

“You seem to be quite knowledgeable on this subject.” Yakumo let out a scoff. Louis didn’t deny it nor did his explanation give him any doubt to what he was doing.

“Let’s just say... I had to deal with arguments a lot.” Louis blinked at the nostalgic undertone in Yakumo’s voice.

But he stayed silent.

Afterall, that was the agreement the two made.

* * *

The way back to the base was longer as they took twists and turns to try to avoid the Lost as much as possible.

At the sight of the church, Louis let out a relieved sigh.

He waited as Yakumo opened the door.

As expected, all conversation stopped as everyone took in the sight.

Louis began walking to Kyo’s room while giving out orders.

“Yakumo, go get some blood beads; Coco, if you can give me any medical supplies; and Murasame, I’ll leave their gear to you.”

Once inside Kyo’s room, he slowly slipped Kyo off him, letting them rest on their back.

He took to removing the mask and blood veil, placing it close to the door so Murasame could go pick it up.

He once again began to feel around, checking places he couldn’t look over earlier, like Kyo’s back, for anything stuck inside.

Usually a BOR parasite could return a revenant’s form to perfect detail if they had died.

But if they didn’t then the body would regenerate at the mistle instead, healing over anything. It was truly a minor wound compared to anything else, but it was still important to get rid of such things.

He could hear heavy footsteps and a grunt as Yakumo placed the blood beads at the desk.

Once he left Louis took to checking over Kyo’s neck and collar for any of the black veins signaling bloodthirst of the BOR parasite.

Usually it starts from a revenant’s heart, where the parasite is located, but it spreads quickly so once could check the condition without moving to strip themselves.

There wasn’t any but he didn’t want to be careless.

Louis turned to the desk and grabbed the blood beads.

He carefully broke the tip off and tilted Kyo’s head so they could drink.

He could hear heels clacking and heard a thump of something close to the dresser.

She left quickly as Louis turned to the makeshift first aid kit.

Bandages, scissors, and water for cleaning.

He turned to Kyo and for the first time, felt apprehension at his task.

Kyo already did not like him so if he were to remove Kyo’s clothes to clean up any remaining blood, he wondered what they would think.

Usually a revenant’s blood would dissipate like Lost’s blood. However this depends on how well fed the BOR parasites in the blood were and how close they were to the main parasite.

BOR parasites have a molecular bond with a revenant’s every cell. As such, if needed, it can “let go” of cells that were wasting its energy to sustain, in this case blood.

However, he had just fed Kyo and therefore fed Kyo’s BOR parasite, meaning that the blood would remain for quite some time.

… For now, he’ll just clean the wounds with the clothes on.

As he was cleaning, he heard another set of footsteps come in.

They stopped for a while as he was cleaning but eventually, he heard the gear move and the footsteps leave.

Once he was done, he grabbed the dirty water and cloth and began to leave.

All of Kyo’s wounds were healed so there was no need for bandages and he didn’t find any other protrusions.

As he walked out of the room, he stopped.

Waiting in front of the door was Io.

And… she was worried.

She was worried in such a way that he could clearly see it.

… She really does-

No. Enough.

“Is something the matter, Io?” She stayed silent, staring at him. He waited patiently.

“Can I… go see them?” She asked. Louis stared at her, taking in her expression. It was worried… but also had a small fear in them. As if he would deny her.

Is that how she sees him?

“Yes, you can. Just remember to be quiet, they’re resting.” He echoed from a younger, happier time.

Io stared at him with wide eyes, before giving a single nod as she stepped inside Kyo’s room.

Louis walked out and dumped the dirty water outside.

Once that was done, he went to grab his sword and blood veil.

“Where are you going?” Yakumo asked, a single brow raised.

“Back.” Yakumo stretched.

“What, noticed something?”

“I want to go check on something.” He confirmed.

Yakumo sighed.

“Wait for me.”

* * *

“This it?” Yakumo asked, looking down the desolate road.

“Most likely.” Louis confirmed as he walked on. The smell of blood grew stronger.

At the end of the path, the road split into three.

Looking down one, he could see that it was the way to the pit.

So, the one they just used was connected.

The place was barren but the blood that was stained here.

“It’s definitely Kyo’s.” If Kyo was well fed with blood before this, then their blood would linger longer.

“... But this means…” Louis turned back from the path they took.

“What is it?” Louis frowned behind his mask.

“Kyo said they attacked from behind. If this path was the one they took…” No, even then, Kyo would’ve been able to see it coming and have a chance to run away. Louis looked down the road they haven’t traversed yet.

It was covered in blood, meaning that this route was the one Kyo used to make their escape.

They were caught by surprise from behind.

… Even if Kyo was still new at exploration, he knows that Kyo would have enough sense to make sure their path was safe.

Not only that, the route with the ladder had a cliff.

If Kyo had killed any Lost on their way here, then that means the chance of it coming from behind should’ve been extremely unlikely.

But it happened.

So, where did the Lost swarm come from?

“Do you think they could’ve come from the buildings?” Louis asked. Many buildings here are unexplored for good reason. Besides the crumbling infrastructure being unsafe, there were barricades made by rubble, making it difficult to safely get inside.

“Could be…” Yakumo muttered.

But… how many had attacked Kyo?

If it was about five or under ten, Kyo wouldn’t have been that wounded.

Meaning that Lost from the buildings were unlikely. A Lost swarm will not hide in buildings anyway.

Like what he told Kyo.

Lost mimics its actions it took in life, they would not have the intelligence to hide out and sneak attack someone.

Sitting still and playing dead was the only sneak attack the Lost were capable of.

This was worrying…

He heard Yakumo step towards the bloody path.

“What is it?” Louis asked. “Did you notice something?”

“Nah. But I wanna go see what happened. Maybe we’ll find something.” Louis looked down at the road and nodded.

While they didn’t find anything…

“Gross…” Louis held the same opinion. Lost hounds were out and were licking up the blood left by Kyo.

He heard Yakumo grunt as he walked.

“Haven’t had a fight in a while…”

“Just make it quick.” Louis ordered. He wanted them gone, yes, but he still wants to investigate.

“Alright.”

He saw Yakumo spin and the Lost were launched away. One dispersed but the other got up only to be cut down by Yakumo’s swing.

“That was disappointing…” Louis stepped up to stare down the road, looking for any other Lost.

“Let’s go.”

“Got it.”

They followed the trail of blood, dispatching what roaming Lost there was and found themselves at the parking garage.

There, close to the stairs was the biggest stain of blood. Looking around Louis could see signs of a huge fight.

“The damn things followed them all the way here?” Yakumo murmured.

Usually, if a Lost chases someone, the Lost would usually stop and go back to it’s routine if the person runs far enough.

Of course, some walk back to their original position while others just stop and stay there, but are usually non aggressive until they see prey again.

To see a swarm of Lost actually chase someone this far relentlessly is concerning.

“There is a chance that the Lost are becoming desperate…” Lost already devour one another in their thirst for blood. However, if the creatures were running out of blood as well…

Could it be that the BOR parasite is pushing the Lost to ignore its previous behavior to chase down blood?

Louis has dealt with many Lost swarms. Usually if he can’t kill them, he hides until they lose interest.

… But if they don’t lose interest…

“This doesn’t bode well…” If Lost swarms are starting to chase after prey for blood this means that the Lost are also running out of sustenance... That means he’s running out of time.

Yakumo looked up at the stairs.

“Let’s go and rest.” He said. Louis looked over at him before nodding in agreement. 

They’ll be safer at the mistle and he could think unperturbed there.

Louis and Yakumo could see the blood staining the metal as they walked up.

At the door all the way to the mistle, blood was staining the floor.

“I’m surprised they didn’t frenzy.” Yakumo mumbled as he sat down.

Louis agreed.

The amount of blood lost compared to when Kyo had last had blood…

Well the chance for frenzy was high.

“Though, I’m surprised they managed to fight the Lost off.” Yakumo said, looking over at Louis.

… Yes. They did very well. Much better than what he was expecting…

If his conclusion was correct… that means that Kyo didn’t die, despite the odds.

… He’s not saying that he hoped they died, rather that Kyo had a low chance of killing all the Lost in a swarm and surviving.

Of course, Yakumo didn’t bring that topic up for small talk.

Louis knows what he’s saying…

The fact that they did this well, despite the lack of guidance… makes his worry a tad bit foolish.

He still has every right to be concerned… but he can’t justify keeping them under lock and key.

In the end the duo went back without checking the elevator. Even if it worked, they would still have to wait on Kyo to recover.

Back at base, Louis went to check on Kyo’s condition.

Io was still there, kneeling on the floor close to their side. She turned to him once he came inside but didn’t get up.

He tried not to get too close to her to make her more comfortable as he looked them over.

Kyo was recovering quickly. By his estimate, Kyo would wake up tomorrow. 

When he told this to Io, she brightened, her usual blank face gone as a light shined in her eyes.

He wanted to take blood just to see if anything changed, but he refrained, preferring to do it once Kyo was better.

With nothing left to do, Louis was sitting at his desk, stuck in his thoughts. 

What he was focusing on now was what to do when Kyo woke up.

… He could keep them here at base. He has a good reason now.

And if Kyo wanted to go, he could make it so that they would have to bring either him or Yakumo.

But… his thoughts turned to what Yakumo said.

… Less than nothing…

He’s fine with that. He doesn’t mind that Kyo distrusts him. All that matters is that they’re safe.

Yes, they can hold their own, but it was still dangerous.

He must make sure nothing happens to them.

They are the only one that can help him.

He cannot fail now, not when he can save the world, not when he can make up for his sins. So, keeping Kyo under supervision should be a decision he should make without hesitation.

But-

No. No emotions.

No doubt.

That was the mistake that led them all here.

… He remembers what Kyo said about him not trusting them. And what Yakumo said in turn.

… But… is this right?

Is it the right thing to do?

Of course it is.

He can save more people like this.

… Kyo would distrust him. They’ll be a bit miserable, but it’s for the best.

Maybe when he sees if Kyo can handle themself he won't worry as much.

And if Kyo wants to fight he can help them, he’s experienced enough.

This way, Kyo can be safe and they can get the training they need.

He knows… it’s not the same as actual combat but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

If Kyo trains more, once they’re out exploring, they’ll know what to do.

He won’t always be there, but by then Kyo should know what to do; they can catch up pretty well he admits.

It’s for the best... 

… It’s…

* * *

Kyo jerked awake. Once they realized that, they tensed, awaiting pain.

But… nothing happened.

Kyo looked down and realized that they were inside their room back at the base.

Not only that, it seems that they’ve been treated.

They can guess by who.

As they went to stand, Kyo jumped, seeing Io sleeping on her knees next to the bed.

Ah… she would’ve been the most worried.

As slowly as they could, they slid off the bed.

But that was enough to jerk Io awake.

She stared at them for a second before lunging forward and grabbing their hand.

“Io?!” Kyo quickly dropped to their knees to make sure she didn’t fall over.

She gripped their hand tight as she looked up at them, looking for any signs of pain. She didn’t find any, but she still tightened her grip.

“You’re… alright…” Kyo’s eyes soften at the indistinguishable tremor in her voice.

“Yeah,” they whisper. “I’m sorry, that must’ve scared you.”

Kyo stayed there until Io felt comfortable enough to relax her hold.

“How long have you been staying here?” Kyo asked her, looking down at her red knees.

“When you came back.” She said. Kyo sighed.

They remember that Louis and Yakumo had found them during the day.

That means she was here for a while.

Kyo stood, helping Io stand and moved her to the bed.

“Go sleep.” Kyo said, but Io shook her head, reaching out to grip their hand.

Kyo stared at her and reached a hand up to stroke her hair.

“Are you scared that I’ll be gone?” It took a bit of time until she nodded.

“Then, I’ll stay here okay? So just sleep.” With a motion practiced so many times, Kyo waited until Io laid down on the bed before tucking her in.

… They really didn’t want her to lay on bed sheets that were most likely dirty with blood, but they can clean her clothes later.

It was still dark out and knowing Louis, they’re gonna be well acquainted with the base for some time.

Kyo went and grabbed the chair from the desk and scooted it over close to the bedside.

They didn’t feel tired, but it was still better to take it easy.

When the sun peeked over the horizon, Kyo could get a good look at their condition.

They check, and sure enough, all their wounds have healed. They also made sure nothing was out of place in terms of bone placement.

Kyo frowned at the sight of their shirt.

It wasn’t as torn up as Io’s dress, but they couldn’t repair it.

Kyo let out a small huff as they quietly went and changed shirts.

They rolled up the torn clothing into a ball and placed it into their laundry basket to throw away later.

Just as they were about to go and sit back down on the chair, they heard footsteps.

Kyo stopped and waited.

Sure enough the footsteps walked right up to their door and stopped.

Kyo watched as the door creaked open and popped in Louis’ head.

Seems like he expected them to be awake, since he didn’t look that shocked.

But he didn’t leave.

“Are you alright?” He whispered, minding Io.

Kyo nodded.

Louis looked like he wanted to say something else, but he refrained from doing so.

He stepped back to shut the door.

“Thank you, for helping me.” The door froze for a second before it shut.

Kyo looked at the door where Louis was standing.

… Even if they disagree with him, even if they can’t trust him, that doesn’t mean they hate him.

* * *

Io awoke midday.

There was a hint of panic to her expression until she saw them sitting by the bedside.

She reached out her hand and, like always, they grabbed it.

She held their hand for a bit until she relaxed.

“Did you sleep well?” She nodded as her grip tightened.

“How are you?” She asked back. Kyo nodded.

“I’m well.” At that Io was content to hold their hand and lay in bed. But, frankly, she couldn’t stay there all day.

“Come on,” Kyo coaxed. “You’d rather go out then stay inside, right?”

“No.” Kyo binked at how fast Io denied that. “I want to stay with you.”

The way she looked up at them… all earnest and yet somehow managing to keep her face blank, a warmth spread through them.

“Pft.” Kyo let out a small laugh as Io looked on, confused.

“What is it?” Kyo took in a small breath.

“Ah, nothing, promise.” Kyo looked down at Io. “But unfortunately, you can’t stay in bed all day.”

Io tilted her head on the pillows.

“Why?”

“Because I have to do laundry.” Kyo answered. Io stayed in bed, seemingly burrowing herself under the covers. 

“Io.” Kyo called out. She looked up at them and Kyo couldn’t help but feel that she was pouting. “I’m sorry Io, but the blankets are dirty, I have to clean them.”

Io loitered before finally moving up to stand.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you.” Kyo said as they grabbed the blanket. 

“Oh…” Speaking of laundry. “Io, have you changed out of that yet?”

“Change?”

Well, that’s a no.

Kyo let out a hum.

“Io, the clothes are dirty.” Kyo spoke bluntly this time. Who knows how long she’s been wearing that? “Coco gave you some clothes, do you want to try them on?”

Io tilted her head.

“I don’t understand.”

“...” Kyo let out a hum.

Ah, what to do…

“Io, do you like messes?” Let’s start with something small.

“I don’t mind messes….”

Well… looking at her bed in the living space… Kyo agreed that she honestly doesn't mind it...

“Hmmm, how about…. Being dirty?” She tilted her head.

“Dirty? How dirty?”

Io was wearing her dress for some time…

“… Io, would you let me clean your clothes?” Let’s try something more straightforward. 

She nodded.

“I understand…”

While they managed to get that over with, Kyo couldn’t help but think they failed with something.

They expected stares once they walked out of the room.

But expecting and feeling are two different things.

As they led Io to her bed, Yakumo, Coco, and even Murasame was peeking over, looking them over “subtly.”

Louis was behind his books. Perhaps it was because he already saw that they were well, he didn’t bother.

Which was greatly welcomed. 

Kyo went towards the metal door to get ready to wash the laundry. 

The silence persisted while they did so.

When they managed to get everything ready, Kyo let out a sigh as they looked over at what they had to clean.

Besides the bed sheets, there were other pieces of clothing that they had been neglecting.

It wasn’t stained by blood, but Kyo felt the need to do so regardless.

They were absorbed in their task, so much so that they didn’t hear the door open.

Kyo only turned their head after they sensed someone staring at them.

“Do you need something, Miss Coco?”

“Wanted to see how you were doing.” She answered. Kyo looked her over.

Her posture was relaxed.

“I’m fine.” They said.

“Can’t blame me for wanting to check up on you. You got your ass beat pretty bad.”

Kyo sighed.

“Yes, I know.” Coco paused at that answer. “What is it?”

“Nothing. Just expected you to say you’ll do better next time or you kicked their ass so you won or... something like that.”

“...I did kill all the Lost, yes. But there’s no denying that I was hurt.”

Coco tilted her head as she looked at them.

“Is something the matter?”

“Mm, nothing.”

She went silent.

The day continued on. Coco had left, leaving Kyo to finish up the laundry.

With nothing left to do they went back to their room.

Io was resting once again so they couldn’t get her to change clothes.

A few hours passed when they heard a knock on the door.

As they opened it they paused.

Standing there was Murasame holding their gear.

They both stayed silent before Murasame stepped in.

“H-Here’s your gear.” Murasame put her arms out. Kyo walked over and slowly took them from her.

“Thank you.” Murasame stepped back, but didn’t leave.

“Is something the matter?” They asked. She stayed silent, her eyes flickering around the room before they finally landed back on them.

“Are… are you really okay?” Kyo nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Murasame didn’t say anything else.

The second day was similar.

Kyo had just finished organizing their laundry and was now sitting on the balcony with Io.

There wasn’t anything for them to do.

Even with their escapades it was either train, laundry, spend time with Io, and then just doing other small things before sleeping.

Kyo was already getting tired of the pattern even before the Lost attack and they still don’t know why.

They rested enough; it wasn’t like they were doing a marathon on training.

But slowly they grew… weary.

The thought of going out and training seemed to tire them relentlessly.

Of course, they still would leave.

But now they were here, wandering around like the shambling Lost, unsure of what to do.

“What is it?” Io asked, raising her head from the armrest. Kyo was surprised. They hadn’t done anything to reveal their thoughts and yet she managed to see through them.

“Nothing.” They said, not because they were lying to her, but because they didn’t know.

She stared up at their face, searching, before lying it back down.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable?” Kyo asked, looking at her position on the chair. Her grip on their hand tightened as she shook their head.

They could only sigh in response. 

They honestly didn’t know how she managed to lay like that without feeling some type of pain.

In the end, Kyo didn’t notice eyes looking at them for a minute second before turning away.

It was the third day after the incident and Kyo was contemplating on just walking out to see what would happen.

Would there be an argument, or would they be left alone?

But in the end, they stayed.

* * *

  
  


Their dreams have been getting… odd is the only word they could use.

They don’t fight as much anymore but they’re still not themself.

Oftentimes, they’re sitting or lounging around. Sometimes with other people, sometimes alone.

Once, Kyo could see the sky being held up by silver branches as they laid down on its roots.

Another time, Kyo was inside a tent talking with someone whose face they can’t make out.

It seems the dreams were causing them to sleep more.

Louis had been taking their blood again, but he states that he can’t find anything wrong. They could tell he was getting more unnerved.

But what can he do? If it’s not a physical reaction, then he can’t even hope to figure it out.

Besides that, it seems that everything was going back to normal at the base.

Louis and Yakumo would leave to go check on the elevator and Coco would leave to deal with other clients before returning.

Even then, they would just sit and stare out into the sky, Io right beside them.

She still doesn’t do much but sleep but sometimes Kyo could swear they would see her gaze at something with such intensity that they would pause to ask her if she was alright.

She would answer that she doesn’t know.

It was with this monotony that they finally put a face to the name Davis.

It was early in the morning that they walked out of their room.

After Louis was sure that they wouldn’t run off for now, he started to sleep a bit more.

Not much but more than what he usually did.

They didn’t notice anything usual at first, but they saw Io wide awake, staring at the door.

Kyo turned and right beside the metal ramp was a man. A tall man with white armor.

They had no clue who he was.

But… he knew them.

“There you are… the revenant Louis sees so much potential in.”

Kyo narrowed their eyes at him.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Davis.” He answered. “I go around for the provisional government as part of the investigation into the depths.” Kyo tensed.

The provisional government… a member was here? For what?

“Just as a warning, try not to stir up any trouble. If you do, I won’t be able to do my job and…” He paused before looking them over with a stern gaze. “Well, you get it, right?”

A warning as well as a threat.

They understand.

But… they heard about him before… 

“What do you mean that you research the depths?”

And he might be key in helping them with something too.

The man paused, surprised that he was being spoken to after just meeting.

Davis looked back over at them.

“After the war, the Red Mist closed us off from the world, with nowhere left the government turned downwards in order to look for resources.” He explained.

Davis paused; an odd look flickered on his face before he continued.

“Many Cerberus members would travel to search for these openings below. However, because of the increase of miasma many join the Lost taking their secrets with them.”

It was then that he focused back on Kyo.

“It is protocol that if a Cerberus soldier finds the opening to these depths that they would write down the coordinates in case they join the Lost.”

Kyo tilted their head.

“So, if they join the Lost…”

“The maps would be preserved so that someone else may find them.” Davis finished. “As such, if you find any maps, bring them to me.”

Kyo blinked, not at all disturbed by his curt attitude.

“If that’s the case, then I have something for you.” Davis stared at them as they walked back towards their room.

Kyo returned with two sheets of paper.

“Is this what you need?” They asked as they showed him the maps.

Davis looked over it with a stern gaze before nodding.

“Yes, these are maps to the depths.” He took them before placing them to the side. “Once, we confirm the coordinates, I will come back and lead you there if you wish to go.”

Kyo furrowed their brows as they took in what he said.

“I’m curious, what’s so important down there?” 

And why would they want to go down there?

“The depths hold many lost resources.” Davis explained. “Many are things that were made during the war that we do not have the ability to replicate.”

Kyo nodded in understanding.

“I see.”

Kyo left it as that and went over to Io to calm her down. However, it seems that Davis was still here for something as he stood in that little area and waited.

Eventually, Yakumo walked out.

He didn’t seem to be surprised that Davis was here.

“Oh, Davis. That time of the month?” Davis nodded.

Kyo watched as Yakumo went back towards the rooms, coming back out with a bag.

“Here.” He tossed the bag over to Davis.

Davis opened it and Kyo could see blood beads crammed in the bag.

The levy… Kyo realized.

For some reason, they had thought that maybe the government wouldn’t notice this little hideout. Looks like the government was much more thorough than they thought.

“You staying?” Yakumo asked. Davis shook his head.

“No, I have some things to look over.” With that, Davis cast an eye over to Kyo; a look that Yakumo took notice of.

But he didn’t say anything.

And just like that, Davis left.

And everything went back to normal.

Yakumo went to lounge over at the bar like nothing had happened.

Well, the group had been dealing with the government long before Kyo reformed, so it was no surprise.

But still… based on what they heard about the government… Kyo was expecting something else.

After seeing Davis, the dreams changed again.

They were seeing more people wearing that white armor.

Of course, they already saw the soldiers in Oliver’s memories...but the things they were seeing…

They were talking to one.

In another they were fighting with them against the Lost.

These new dreams combined with everything else…

They could tell that Louis was getting worried.

He’s staring at them again. But Kyo can’t help him with this, they don’t even know what was going on.

All they could do was tell them what they’ve been seeing.

Kyo was pretty sure that Louis was about to lock them up until these dreams stopped or became manageable.

They kind of doubt it though, since Coco was already making plans to leave again, and they overheard the conversation about getting the “last one” so they could move on with their exploration.

So, soon they would leave.

Though… Kyo was sure there was another conversation between the two.

About what they don’t know.

However, Louis was, once again, thinking about something in his little corner.

Something that was apparently troubling him since Kyo could see that he was frowning more, his brows often furrowed.

Kyo didn’t really understand what he was thinking about until a few days later.

The dreams… had slowly been calming down.

Louis told them that it might have to do with stimulus when they told him about the dreams of the government soldiers after seeing Davis.

He had hypothesized that the reason as to why they were dreaming more was because they had been through a lot in such a short amount of time and their brain was playing catch up.

Louis said that the dreams could be linked to the blood codes they had so that could also add to their tiredness.

And since they didn’t have any memories of their own… their body was using the blood codes and those memories to fill in the void of what they lost.

Even though Louis had an explanation Kyo could tell he was still unsatisfied with something.

But with the news that they were going to get “better” he calmed down a bit.

Kyo woke up at around dawn.

They stayed still just to see if they would fall back asleep and when they didn’t Kyo got up.

As they were contemplating on what to do today, Kyo noticed a box was lying close to the door. A box that wasn’t one of theirs.

Kyo frowned and went over to it.

It was already opened a bit and nothing was crawling out to kill them. So Kyo opened the box completely.

Inside… it looked like cloth at first, but when they pulled it out Kyo could see wires and metal attached to it.

Kyo stared at it with wide eyes.

This was a blood veil.

At the bottom of the box was a note.

** _If you want to explore, then I hope you would use this blood veil instead._ **

** **

** _It might feel odd at first, but I believe you’ll get the hang of it._ **

There was no name but Kyo knew who wrote it.

But this was a rather odd and sudden change of mind, Kyo definitely had some questions to ask him.

They walked out towards the living space.

Because it was dawn. There was no one around.

No one except for Io, who was sleeping, and him.

Good.

He was looking over some papers right now.

Kyo stood still for a moment before walking up to Louis’ desk.

He was rather calm as he slowly looked up at them.

“What is it?”

“I want to talk.” Louis paused, Kyo could see him withdrawing into himself.

They thought he would reject but then he nodded as he looked up at them.

“I understand, lead the way.”

Kyo stepped back as Louis walked out of his little haven.

They looked around before gesturing towards the front door.

As the duo faced each other, Kyo decided to start.

“The box in my room, was that you?”

Louis stared at them before nodding.

“Why?” This change of heart was sudden.

Louis didn’t answer. Kyo frowned.

Why the silence?

Kyo stood there as the silence continued.

Louis would stare at them before letting his gaze wander, eventually his eyes would lock on them again.

“I…” Louis stopped; his expression troubled.

“I…” He started again. He also paused again, but Kyo waited.

“I believe that you can handle yourself in this area.”

Kyo blinked trying to understand that short and uninformative sentence.

“So, what you’re saying is-”

“I want you to only stick to the areas we’ve visited and if you’re treading towards unknown territory, I want you to bring someone along.”

This was lenient… Kyo couldn’t actually believe it.

“Really? That’s it?” Louis nodded.

“Yes.”

They were about to ask the reason before stopping.

If this were a change of heart Louis could easily change his mind again, so it’s best to keep quiet.

But… they now have official permission from the leader to go and explore.

They’re still a bit tired and the thought of fighting was already exhausting, but if Louis is correct, they’ll get better soon.

Not only that, if David manages to find the entrance then they can move forward with Shang’s request.

Even if it was just more work, for some reason they’re feeling active already and after feeling so tired and bleak, they couldn’t help but smile.

Louis made a sound, causing Kyo to look over at him.

“Something the matter?”

Louis was looking at them an odd expression on his face before he shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.” Was all he said as he walked back towards his desk.

With nothing else to do Kyo decided to go rest up back in their room.

As he stared at their retreating back Louis couldn’t help but agonize over his choice.

A part of him still wants to keep them here where he could keep watch.

But Coco and Yakumo had told him it was a “pointless” idea.

He often used Kyo’s unknown symptoms as an excuse but now that he thinks he figured it out, he doesn’t have a good enough reason.

And he can’t get involved in Kyo’s business; they were too wary of him, so giving them a gift in support was all he could do.

Maybe he should try to train them when they’re back at base?

No, he could train them with a sword but Kyo has an amalgamation of blood codes to use. His help would be minuscule, and he didn’t want to lock them to his fighting style.

The more he thought the more he began to doubt his choice.

But… he remembers now.

He remembers Cruz looking just as miserable while he was visiting.

She would often tell him that she couldn’t go outside as it was too dangerous; how she couldn’t even go on walks without supervision.

And how the only gateway to the outside world was him.

How she clung to the stories he told of school, of what the military base was like.

He wonders if she would’ve smiled like that if she was allowed outside, if she wasn’t being experimented on.

…

Please… let the choice he made this time be correct.

Please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, basically what happened was that something's wrong with my laptop.
> 
> And considering what's going on and how laptops are flying off the shelves it'll take a while until things go back to normal.
> 
> I'll try to keep doing the monthly updates but I had to type the rest of this chapter out on my phone.
> 
> So yeah.


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